The evaluation of pupil diameter by using Sirius before and after phacoemulsification in healthy, diabetic and hypertension patients

BACKGROUND

Pupil size can affect the selection of the ablation region in refractive surgery and intraocular lens design in cataract surgery. Therefore, the evaluation of pupil diameter (PD), one of the anterior segment parameters, is an important component of ophthalmological examination.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Seventy-one healthy patients, 64 patients with Systemic Hypertension (HT), and 65 patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM) scheduled for phacoemulsification were included in the study. PD was measured before and one month after surgery using combined Scheimpflug-Placido disk topography (Sirius, CSO Inc.). Preoperative PD values of the groups were compared. The PD of the groups was compared in the 1st month after surgery. Then, preoperative and postoperative pupil diameter values of the groups were compared. The effect of the surgery on the change in pupil diameter (effect value) in the groups was also examined.

RESULTS

Pre- and postoperative PD only differed significantly between the healthy and DM groups (P = .039 and P = .045, respectively). PD decreased in all three groups after phacoemulsification. Pre-and postoperative PD differed significantly in the healthy group (4.78 ± 0.94 and 3.01 ± 0.48 mm, respectively, P < .05). Pre- and postoperative PD values also differed significantly (4.69 ± 0.84 and 2.95 ± 0.42 mm, respectively, P < .05). In the DM group, Pre- and postoperative PD also differed significantly in the DM group (4.38 ± 1.08 and 2.82 ± 0.43 mm, respectively, P < .05). The effect values of PD changes differed in the healthy, DM, and HT groups (1.95, 1.41, and 2.28, respectively). Phacoemulsification was observed to have a greater effect on PD change in HT patients.

CONCLUSIONS

PD was smaller in DM patients than in the other groups. PD decreased in all three groups after phacoemulsification. This change should be remembered when planning cataract surgery for chronic metabolic patients.

Metabolic Profiling of Rhizobacteria Serratia plymuthica and Bacillus subtilis Revealed Intra- and Interspecific Differences and Elicitation of Plipastatins and Short Peptides Due to Co-cultivation

Rhizobacteria live in diverse and dynamic communities having a high impact on plant growth and development. Due to the complexity of the microbial communities and the difficult accessibility of the rhizosphere, investigations of interactive processes within this bacterial network are challenging. In order to better understand causal relationships between individual members of the microbial community of plants, we started to investigate the inter- and intraspecific interaction potential of three rhizobacteria, the S. plymuthica isolates 4Rx13 and AS9 and B. subtilis B2g, using high resolution mass spectrometry based metabolic profiling of structured, low-diversity model communities. We found that by metabolic profiling we are able to detect metabolite changes during cultivation of all three isolates. The metabolic profile of S. plymuthica 4Rx13 differs interspecifically to B. subtilis B2g and surprisingly intraspecifically to S. plymuthica AS9. Thereby, the release of different secondary metabolites represents one contributing factor of inter- and intraspecific variations in metabolite profiles. Interspecific co-cultivation of S. plymuthica 4Rx13 and B. subtilis B2g showed consistently distinct metabolic profiles compared to mono-cultivated species. Thereby, putative known and new variants of the plipastatin family are increased in the co-cultivation of S. plymuthica 4Rx13 and B. subtilis B2g. Interestingly, intraspecific co-cultivation of S. plymuthica 4Rx13 and S. plymuthica AS9 revealed a distinct interaction zone and showed distinct metabolic profiles compared to mono-cultures. Thereby, several putative short proline-containing peptides are increased in co-cultivation of S. plymuthica 4Rx13 with S. plymuthica AS9 compared to mono-cultivated strains. Our results demonstrate that the release of metabolites by rhizobacteria alters due to growth and induced by social interactions between single members of the microbial community. These results form a basis to elucidate the functional role of such interaction-triggered compounds in establishment and maintenance of microbial communities and can be applied under natural and more realistic conditions, since rhizobacteria also interact with the plant itself and many other members of plant and soil microbiota.