Archive for category: Publication

The team of Tomás Patrick Griffin, Md Nahidul Islam, Deirdre Wall, John Ferguson, Damian Gerard Griffin, Matthew Dallas Griffin and Paula M. O’Shea from NUI Galway recently published “Plasma dephosphorylated uncarboxylated Matrix Gla-Protein (dp-ucMGP): reference intervals in Caucasian adults and diabetic kidney disease biomarker potential” in the December 2019 edition of the open-access journal Scientific Reports.

Congratulations to all authors!

Congratulations to the team! VISICORT PIs and researchers spanning the consortium have recently released a new paper in the Official Journal of the Transplantation Society. The paper entitled: “High-Risk Corneal Transplantation, Recent Developments and Future Possibilities” was released 22 August 2019. Authors are W. John Armitage, PhD; Christine Goodchild, MD; Matthew D. Griffin, DMed; David J. Gunn, FRANZCO; Jesper Hjortdal, DMSc; Paul Lohan, PhD; Conor C. Murphy, PhD; Uwe Pleyer, MD; Thomas Ritter, PhD; Derek M. Tole, FRC Ophth; Bertrand Vabres, MD.

Abstract: “Human corneal transplantation (keratoplasty) is typically considered to have superior short- and long-term outcomes and lower requirement for immunosuppression compared to solid organ transplants because of the inherent immune privilege and tolerogenic mechanisms associated with the anterior segment of the eye. However, in a substantial proportion of corneal transplants, the rates of acute rejection and/or graft failure are comparable to or greater than those of the commonly transplanted solid organs. Critically, while registry data and observational studies have helped to identify factors that are associated with increased risk of corneal transplant failure, the extent to which these risk factors operate through enhancing immune-mediated rejection is less clear. In this overview, we summarize a range of important recent clinical and basic insights related to high-risk corneal transplantation, the factors associated with graft failure and the immunological basis of corneal allograft rejection. We highlight critical research areas from which continued progress is likely to drive improvements in the long-term survival of high-risk corneal transplants. These include further development and clinical testing of predictive risk scores and assays; greater use of multicenter clinical trials to optimize immunosuppressive therapy in high-risk recipients and robust clinical translation of novel, mechanistically-targeted immunomodulatory and regenerative therapies that are emerging from basic science laboratories. We also emphasize the relative lack of knowledge regarding transplant outcomes for infection-related corneal diseases that are common in the developing world and the potential for greater cross-pollination and synergy between corneal and solid organ transplant research communities.”

Find this and all of the other VISICORT publications here.

A new study has just been published by VISICORT researchers in the leading open access journal Frontiers in Immunology today, 20 November 2018. The study “Third-party allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells prevent rejection in a pre-sensitized high-risk model of corneal transplantation” was completed by the National University of Ireland Galway team of Paul Lohan, Nick Murphy, Oliver Treacy, Kevin Lynch, Maurice Morcos, Bingling Chen, Aideen E. Ryan, Matthew D. Griffin and Thomas Ritter.

The study shows for the first time that intravenous administration of third-party allogeneic mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC from neither the new cornea recipient nor the cornea donor) results in distinct immune modulatory effects that overcome pre-existing anti-donor immunity to prolong rejection-free survival of corneal allografts in a laboratory model of high-risk corneal transplantation. The experimental cell therapy regimen described in the paper appears to be compatible with prior cryo-preservation and with co-administration of a relevant immunosuppressive drug. These findings open the door to clinical translation of “off-the-shelf” allogeneic MSC products for recipients of high-risk corneal transplants who continue to suffer from very poor long-term graft survival rates. The results of this experimental study have formed the basis of a regulatory submission for the VISICORT Phase Ib clinical trial in patients receiving a second or greater transplant who are at high risk of rejection. This trial will determine the safety and feasibility of co-administration of allogeneic MSC and MMF in the setting of high-risk corneal transplantation.