Fiona C Simpson

BioMimir

Transplantation with donor corneas is the mainstay for treating corneal blindness, but a severe worldwide shortage necessitates the development of other treatment options. Corneal perforation from infection or inflammation is sealed with cyanoacrylate glue. However, the resulting cytotoxicity requires transplantation. LiQD Cornea is an alternative...

Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) infections in the eye often originate in the cornea before assuming a latent state in the trigeminal ganglion. During primary infection and upon injury or reactivation, HSV-1 can lead to significant corneal damage. Nanoparticles (NPs) are an emerging strategy for drug delivery to the cornea because they improve the lo...

Sterilization of biodegradable, collagen-based implants is challenging as irradiation sterilization methods can alter their mechanical properties. Electron beam (EB) irradiation is a terminal sterilization method that has been used for biologically-derived implants. Here, recombinant human collagen type III-phosphorylcholine (RHCIII-MPC) hydrogels...

Corneal blindness accounts for 5.1% of visual deficiency and is the fourth leading cause of blindness globally. An additional 1.5–2 million people develop corneal blindness each year, including many children born with or who later develop corneal infections. Over 90% of corneal blind people globally live in low- and middle-income regions (LMIRs), w...

Purpose To determine feasibility of plant-derived recombinant human collagen type I (RHCI) for use in corneal regenerative implants Methods RHCI was crosslinked with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethyl aminopropyl) carbodiimide (EDC) and N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) to form hydrogels. Application of shear force to liquid crystalline RHCI aligned the collagen fibr...

The long-term survival of biomaterial implants is often hampered by surgery-induced inflammation that can lead to graft failure. Considering that most corneas receiving grafts are either pathological or inflamed before implantation, the risk of rejection is heightened. Here, we show that bioengineered, fully synthetic, and robust corneal implants c...

A rapid and precise route to graft a nano-bactericidal barrier is reported.

Recombinant or artificial designer collagens have developed to a point where they are viable candidates for replacing extracted animal collagens in regenerative medicine applications. Biomimetic corneas made have shown promise as replacements for human donor corneas, and have previously been fabricated from several different collagens or collagen-l...

This is a protocol for a Cochrane Review (Intervention). The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of topical treatments for athlete's foot (interdigital tinea pedis) caused by dermatophytes. © 2018 The Cochrane Collaboration. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The term artificial cornea is used loosely to refer to a wide range of bioengineered implants from prostheses that are designed to replace the minimal function of the cornea to implants that promote regeneration of the different corneal structures and nerves. The trend is towards the use of biomaterials that promote corneal regeneration, with impla...

Purpose of Review Corneal disease affects 12.7 million individuals globally, and the current gold standard therapy using a human donor cornea (HDC) in low-risk patients or keratoprosthesis in high-risk patients is prone to graft rejection. New techniques are currently being investigated to regenerate corneal tissue to provide a more effective treat...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is present in at least 2% of women and 4% of men, and its prevalence is increasing, as a major predisposing factor for OSA is a high body mass index (BMI). Psoriasis has the most strongly substantiated link with OSA, where the relationship may be bidirectional. Dermatologic disorders may be comorbid with OSA due to sev...

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the clinical and mycological effects of topical drugs and device-based therapies for onychomycosis.

Psoriasis is an immune-mediated chronic inflammatory disorder which manifests as dermatologic lesions, and psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in about 30% of cases. Psoriasis is associated with multiple comorbidities including metabolic syndrome, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular events, obesity and psychiatric disorders, which can all affect the cours...

Laser therapy is one of the most promising device-based therapies for onychomycosis. To date, reported clinical efficacies, as well as anecdotal clinical results, have varied greatly, and the specific mechanism of action has not been well-elucidated. Here, we provide an overview of the mechanisms of action and detailed analysis of the technical par...

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) frequently present with symptoms of depression and anxiety. The objective of this study is to determine if treatment with positive airway pressure (PAP) improves symptoms of depression and anxiety. A systematic review was conducted to identify clinical trials of PAP that contained a validated measure of d...

The route of antifungal drug entry into the nail plate and the underlying nail bed plays an important role in determining the efficacy of therapy. Oral antifungal agents reach the nail bed and nail plate by being ingested and achieving antifungal levels in the blood stream that are well in excess of the minimum inhibitory concentration. The reticul...

Introduction: Onychomycosis is an infection of the nail plate that is an important priority area for the development of antifungal drugs. The high incidence of relapse and reinfection often makes onychomycosis a chronic condition. The current gold standard is oral therapy, but the development of effective topical agents remains a priority as they...

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) has been associated with psychiatric pathology. Psychiatric comorbidity in OSA may affect patient quality of life and adherence to CPAP. A focused evaluation of OSA in highly selected groups of primarily psychiatric patients may provide further insights into the factors contributing to comorbidity of OSA and psychopath...

Onychomycosis is the most common nail disorder in adults, which may present with hyperkeratosis, subungual debris, thickening, or discoloration of the nail plate. This chapter talks about the onychomycosis and its incidence/prevalence, etiology/risk factors, prognosis and treatment objectives. The chapter also describes the role of oral antifungal...

Efinaconazole 10% nail solution (Jublia(®)) is a new topical triazole antifungal designed for the topical treatment of distal and lateral subungual onychomycosis. It inhibits ergosterol biosynthesis enzyme sterol 14α-demethylase. Efinaconazole has lower minimum inhibitory concentrations than terbinafine, ciclopirox, itraconazole and amorolfine in T...

Background: The variability in susceptibility to onychomycosis for individuals exposed to the same environmental risk factors raises the possibility that there may be individuals with a genetic predisposition to dermatophyte infection. Objective: To determine whether there are genetic mutations or genotypes which contribute to onychomycosis. Me...

Efinaconazole is an emerging antifungal therapy for the topical treatment of onychomycosis. Efinaconazole is an inhibitor of sterol 14α-demethylase and is more effective in vitro than terbinafine, itraconazole, ciclopirox and amorolfine against dermatophytes, yeasts and non-dermatophyte molds. Phase II studies indicate that efinaconazole 10% nail s...

This is the protocol for a review and there is no abstract. The objectives are as follows: To assess the effects of topical treatments for athlete's foot (interdigital tinea pedis) caused by dermatophytes.

Background: Laser therapy is a rapidly expanding new treatment modality for onychomycosis. Objective: To review current and prospective laser systems for the treatment of onychomycosis. Method: We searched the PubMed database, the Food and Drug Administration 510(k) database, ClinicalTrials.gov, and Google Scholar for in vitro studies, peer-re...

Introduction: Onychomycosis is the fungal infection of the nail plate by dermatophytes, yeasts and nondermatophyte molds. The treatment of onychomycosis poses many challenges due to low initial cure rates and a high rate of relapse and recurrence. Oral therapy is limited by adverse events and drug-drug interactions, whereas topical therapy has lim...

The diagnosis of onychomycosis may require the use of mycological diagnostic testing to supplement the clinical presentation. In order to verify that onychomycosis is present, the viability, penetrance, and species of the fungal infection should be determined. The most common diagnostic tests are mycological culture, direct microscopic examination,...

Device-based therapies are the most rapidly expanding area of onychomycosis treatment. Traditional pharmacotherapy of onychomycosis has a low to moderate efficacy and is associated with adverse reactions and drug interactions that limit its use in many patients. These new therapies include laser systems, photodynamic therapy, iontophoresis, and ult...

Device-based therapies are promising alternatives for the treatment of onychomycosis because they can mitigate some of the negative factors associated with treatment failure. There are four categories of device-based treatments: laser devices, photodynamic therapy, iontophoresis, and ultrasound. These therapeutic modalities are noninvasive procedur...

Laser systems are a new treatment area for onychomycosis. As of January 2012, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved four laser systems for the "temporary increase of clear nail in onychomycosis." The FDA has approved these devices on the basis of "substantial equivalence" to predicate devices with similar technical specifications a...

Objective To compare mycological and complete cures of terbinafine continuous and intermittent regimens in the treatment of toenail onychomycosis. Methods The PubMed database was searched using the terms “terbinafine”, “onychomycosis”, “continuous” and “pulse(d)” or “intermittent”. The inclusion criteria were head-to-head comparison of terbinafine...

Introduction: Onychomycosis is a fungal infection of the nail apparatus that affects 10 - 30% of the global population. Current therapeutic options for onychomycosis have a low to moderate efficacy and result in a 20 - 25% rate of relapse and reinfection. New therapeutic options are needed to broaden the spectrum of treatment options and improve t...

Vascular endothelial cells (EC) and smooth muscle cells (SMC) require a decrease in cytoplasmic Ca2+ concentration after activation. This can be achieved by Ca2+ sequestration by the sarco-/endoplasmic reticulum Ca2+ pumps (SERCA) and Ca2+ extrusion by plasma membrane Ca2+ pumps (PMCA) and Na+-Ca2+-exchangers (NCX). Since the two cell types differ...

Plasma membrane Ca(2+) pumps (PMCA) that expel Ca(2+) from cells are encoded by four genes (PMCA1-4). In this study, we show that aortic endothelium and smooth muscle differ in their PMCA isoform mRNA expression: endothelium expressed predominantly PMCA1, and smooth muscle expressed PMCA4 and a lower level of PMCA1. In this study, we report a novel...