Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 12A
I—FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Sunday, April 8,2001
Study offers
new hope for
restoring vision
In a groundbreaking study,
researchers have found away to
restore vision in blind mice that
suffer from a rare retinal degen
erative disease known as Leber
congenital amaurosis.
Although the disease is rare,
the finding represents hope that
it may be possible to develop
sight-restoring treatments for
other forms of retinal degenera
tion before retinal cells die, said
Steven Pittier Ph.D., senior
member of the Vision Science
Research Center and professor
of physiological optics at the
University of Alabama at
Birmingham.
Pittier is a co-author of a
study about LCA published in a
recent issue of “The Proceedings
of the National Academy of
Sciences.”
LCA is one of a group of
genetic disorders known as
retinitis pigmentosa, in which
genetic malfunctions cause the
retina in the eye to deteriorate
over time initially causing
night-blindness and often
resulting in total blindness.
LCA is the most severe form
of retinitis pigmentosa. It occurs
in early childhood and affected
infants are usually born without
sight or with very rapidly pro
gressing blindness.
By using oral doses of a vita
min A derivative called 9-cis
retinal, researchers were able to
bypass the part of the eye that
malfunctions in LCA and restore
visual function in 8-to 12- week
old mice who were genetically
altered to exhibit a form of the
disease.
Using an electroretinogram, a
diagnostic tool that measures
visual function, researchers
found that treated mice experi
enced a profound restoration of
vision.
By comparison, untreated
mice of the same age have ERG
readings indicating very little or
no vision.
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Researchers were able to
develop the treatment by first
identifying defective genes that
somehow play a role in the dis
ease.
Once the genes were identi
fied, researchers developed the
genetically-altered mouse and
then developed a treatment to
compensate for the genetic dys
function.
Pittier said that this same
process could be used to develop
treatments for other degenerative
genetic disorders.
In a normal eye, a protein
called rhodopsin enables the eye
to translate light into the electri
cal signals that the brain inter
prets as vision.
The renewable action of
rhodopsin is enabled by a pro
tein made by a specific gene,
RPE6S.
The gene plays another key
role by helping to eliminate
waste products from used
rhodopsin that build up in the
eye.
Without elimination, a
buildup of such waste products
eventually causes cells within
the retina to die.
In an eye with LCA, the
elimination action of RPE6S is
inhabited because of a mutation
within that gene.
Once researchers identified
the PRE6S gene as the culprit,
they administered a manufac
tured version of 9-cis-retinal to
the mice models.
The drug was able to over
come the effects of the RPE6S
gene, allowing the mouse’s reti
na to produce an artificial
rhodopsin that restored vision.
But Pittier said there is still
much work to be done.
While the artificial rhodopsin
did temporarily restore vision, it
did not prevent waste products
from building up in the retina.
“So our next step is to figure
See SIGHT, Page 13A
HEALTH & SAFETY
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Photo/Tom Brooks
Mashburn kids take anti-tobacco pledge
With their teachers as their witnesses, the students at Mashburn Elementary culminated an Anti-Smoking Campaign on
March 30 by signing a contract to live their lives tobacco free. The anti-smoking message was spread throughout the school
the week of March 26 -30. Several students, from all grade levels, were creatively inspired to come up with some very origi
nal poster ideas to enter in the schoolwide poster contest.
Health notes
The American Red Cross
will conduct the following blood
drives:
• South Forsyth High School’s
Health Career Room Friday,
April 13, from 8:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Parkway Presbyterian’s
Fellowship Hall Saturday,
April 14, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Forsyth County Library—
Monday, April 23, from 11 a.m. to
4 p.m.
• BP Amoco in Alpharetta
Thursday, April 26, from 8 a.m. to
1 p.m.
Fit for Life
... of Northeast Georgia
Medical Center, in conjunction
with Gainesville Road Runners, is
sponsoring Running & Walking
101, a 10-week fitness and train
ing program leading up to the
2001 June Bug Jog, Fit for Life’s
annual 5k road race. Running &
Walking 101 participants will
meet every Thursday at 6 p.m. at
Northeast Georgia Medical
Center’s Rehabilitation Institute at
Sherwood for a one-hour class.
Classes will consist of a 30
minute education class and 30
minutes of exercise. Class topics
will include proper running equip
ment, a beginning running pro
gram and an intermediate running
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program. The cost for the 10-
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and includes all classes, a one
year membership into the
Gainesville Road Runners and
entry into the June Bug Jog.
Registration is limited to 40 peo
ple, 14 years old or older. For
more information or to register,
call (770) 535-3399.
Free Health Fair
... at North Georgia College
and State University, April 12,
from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. in Memorial
Hall Gymnasium. Events include
chair massage, glucose testing,
muscular strength testing, depres
sion screening, diabetic foor
screening and many more. For
more information, call Lindsay
Reeves, (706) 864-1625.
Skin Cancer Awareness
Poster Contest
... is sponsored by Dr.
Alexander Gross in conjunction
See HEALTH, Page 13A