Re: Do Fungi Cause Retinopathies?

[Guest guest]

thanks, hey, anyone going to madrid for anything?

--- In , " tigerpaw2c " <tigerpaw2c@...>

wrote:

>

> Do Fungi Cause Retinopathies?

> Medical News Today (press release) - UK*

> Main Category: Eye Health / Blindness

> Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry

> Article Date: 10 Mar 2008 - 0:00 PDT

>

>

> http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/100029.php

>

>

> A research team from the Centro de Biologia Molecular Severo Ochoa

> (CSIC-UAM) working in collaboration with the Clínica Barraquer in

> Barcelona have focused their research on the study of fungi as a

> possible cause of strange retinopathies such as AZOOR.

>

> There are several retinopathies of unknown cause; among them AZOOR,

> Multifocal choroiditis, Serpiginous choroiditis, Idiopathic Blind

> Spot Enlargement Syndrome … etc. The progressive nature of these

> conditions causes most patients to gradually lose their vision

until

> many of them are left blinded. It must be considered that not only

> is the diagnosis most patients not easy, especially in the early

> stages of the disease, but that the identification of faster

> diagnosis methods would lead to the correct treatment sooner,

> avoiding in this manner the increasing loss of visual acuity.

> Without a doubt, discovering the cause of each of these

> retinopathies would bring new hope of their treatments. Three years

> ago, with the help and financial support of ONCE, a research team

> led by Carrasco professor of microbiology at the Universidad

> Autónoma de Madrid, noticed that a patient suffering form AZOOR was

> also infected by a type of yeast called Candida famata. In

> collaboration with the Clínica Barraquer, these studies have been

> extended to other patients with AZOOR or with Serpiginous

> choroiditis. In January this year, information about the fungal

> infection in these patients was published in the Journal of

Clinical

> Microbiology (Pisa, D., M. Ramos, P. García, R. Escoto, R.

> Barraquer, S. Molina y L. Carrasco. Fungal infection in patients

> with Serpiginous choroiditis or acute zonal occult outer

> retinopathy. J. Clin. Microbiol. 46, 130-135 (2008)).

>

> To carry out this investigation the researchers analyzed blood

> samples looking for antibodies against yeasts, as well as different

> fungal components such as proteins and DNA. These results indicate

> the existence of a disseminated mycosis in most of the analyzed

> patients which suggests that retinopathies like AZOOR and

> Serpiginous choroiditis are caused by fungal infections. Looking

for

> treatments based on current anti fungal drugs could offer great

> benefits for these patients. The clinical studies about the effects

> of anti fungal compounds in the evolution of these patients will be

> crucial to determine whether the presence of mycosis is the cause

of

> the loss of visual acuity.

>

> Future investigations by Dr. Carrasco's research group will

> lean towards the improvement of diagnosis techniques for fungal

> infections and the cause of other retinopathies. These techniques

> will also be useful for the analysis of the evolution and

> effectiveness of the possible anti fungal treatments that are

> implemented with these patients.

>

> MADRIMASD

> C/ Alcalá 30-32, 3ªplanta

> Madrid

> http://www.madrimasd.org

>