DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for ring dermoid of cornea — screening already-approved drugs against its 1-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleRing dermoid of cornea maps to a 1-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for ring dermoid of cornea is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
What the evidence adds up to
The abstracts do not describe any drug treatment for ring dermoid of cornea. The 1999 and 2009 papers on fungal keratitis are irrelevant to dermoid. One 2009 Chinese study of 43 corneal dermoid patients reports that after dermoid tumour resection alone (19 cases), resection with conjunctival cover (2 cases), resection with amniotic membrane transplant (1 case), or resection with lamellar keratoplasty (21 cases), 39 patients were cured and 4 recurred within six months to six years, requiring a second operation. The authors conclude that lamellar keratoplasty in the corresponding position can lower the recurrence rate, but they give no numbers for recurrence by procedure type.
A 2017 retrospective review of 43 patients (mean age 11.4 years, range 1–26) who underwent surgery for limbal dermoids reports that three grade I patients had simple excision and 40 patients (one grade I, 39 grade II) had excision with lamellar sclerokeratoplasty. Median logMAR visual acuity improved from 0.3 preoperatively to 0.20 postoperatively (p < 0.001). Mean astigmatism changed from 2.3 dioptres to 1.4 dioptres. Mild graft opacification occurred in 16 eyes (37%), pseudopterygium in 3 eyes (7%), and staphyloma in 1 eye. Amblyopia present in 10 patients did not respond to surgery in those who had already failed conservative management. A 2024 case report describes a surgical technique for removing a canine corneal dermoid in a shelter using basic equipment as an alternative to enucleation, noting that decreased corneal clarity at the surgical site is an acceptable trade-off when specialised care is unavailable.
No drug has been tested for ring dermoid of cornea in any of these studies. The evidence is entirely surgical. What is missing is any randomised comparison of surgical techniques, any prospective trial with standardised grading of dermoid severity, any data on long-term cosmetic or functional outcomes beyond median three-year follow-up, and any investigation of medical or adjunctive therapies. Patient stratification by age, dermoid grade, and presence of amblyopia is not yet supported by controlled data.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Cornea · 1999 · 41 citations
Effects of Methylprednisolone and Cyclosporine A on Fungal Growth In Vitro
AbstractPURPOSE: The management of corneal transplants after mycotic keratitis often poses a therapeutic dilemma. Clinicians are hesitant to use topical steroids because of their potential enhancement of fungal growth. This study seeks to evaluate the in vitro effects of methylprednisolone and cyclosporine A on the growth of various molds that often are responsible for keratomycoses. METHODS: Fusarium oxysporum, Fusarium solani, and Aspergillus fumigatus were grown in the presence of varying concentrations of methylprednisolone, cyclosporine A, and vehicle controls. Fungal growth was evaluated in a masked fashion based on the number of colonies and their morphologies. RESULTS: All tested concentrations of cyclosporine A (1%, 2%, 4%) had a statistically significant suppressive effect on the growth of F. oxysporum (p<0.001) and F. solani (p<0.001) compared with methylprednisolone and vehicle control solutions. A dose-dependent decrease in the number of colonies grown also was noted for F. oxysporum (p<0.001) and F. solani (p<0.001). In the case of A. fumigatus, cyclosporine A significantly decreased the colony size (p<0.015) in a dose-dependent fashion. CONCLUSIONS: Cyclosporine A appears to have an inhibitory effect on fungal growth in vitro. Cyclosporine A may be an important alternative to topical steroids for management of corneal transplants after mycotic keratitis.
Journal of Ocular Pharmacology and Therapeutics · 2009 · 21 citations
<i>In Vivo</i> and <i>In Vitro</i> Investigations of Fungal Keratitis Caused by <i>Colletotrichum gloeosporioides</i>
AbstractPURPOSE: To report a case of fungal keratitis caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, which is a rare pathogen in humans. METHODS: An 80-year-old woman developed fungal keratitis after having sustained a traumatic injury during field work. The patient was initially examined by slit-lamp biomicroscopy and the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph II-Rostock Cornea Module (HRT II-RCM). Corneal scrapings were collected and submitted for laboratory investigations. RESULTS: Many septate, hyphae-like interlocking and branching white lines were observed in the area of the infiltrate by HRT II-RCM. A tentative diagnosis of fungal keratitis was made, and the patient was treated with systemic and topical voriconazole and pimaricin ophthalmic ointment. The infectious focus resolved within 2 weeks, and there were no signs of a recurrence after 3 months of treatment with the antifungal agents. The culture of the corneal scraping grew C. gloeosporioides. CONCLUSIONS: HRT II-RCM was useful in detecting filamentous fungi in the cornea. The treatment with voriconazole and pimaricin was effective in the treatment of C. gloeosporioides keratitis.
Acta Ophthalmologica · 2017 · 18 citations · open access
Surgical management of limbal dermoids: 10‐year review
AbstractCorneal limbal dermoid is a congenital, benign choristoma composed of tissues of ectodermal and mesodermal origin (Cha et al. 2013; Pirouzian 2013). Grade I limbal dermoids are superficial and measure <5 mm. Grade II limbal dermoids cover more of the cornea and extend down to Descemet's membrane. Grade III limbal dermoids cover the whole cornea and extend through it to the anterior chamber up to the pigmented epithelium of the iris. Surgical intervention is indicated in cases with amblyopia unresponsive to conservative management, dellen, recurrent conjunctivitis, growth into the optical zone and inadequate lid closure. Different surgical techniques have been described for removal of dermoids (Stergiopoulos et al. 2009). These include bare sclera excision, excision with amniotic membrane transplantation (Pirouzian et al. 2012) and excision with corneal graft (Shen et al. 2005). We reviewed the records of cases with limbal dermoids that were treated in our hospital between June 2005 and June 2015. All surgeries were performed using a standard surgical technique. Briefly, the area of limbal dermoid was marked, followed by excision using a crescent blade until a clear bed was achieved. A lamellar, limbal-based corneo-scleral patch, 0.5–1.0 mm larger than the excised dermoid bed, was fashioned from a whole donor eye. The donor button was laid over the area of excised dermoid and aligned with the corneal limbus. The corneal edge was sutured with interrupted or continuous 10-0 nylon sutures, and scleral edge was sutured with interrupted 10-0 nylon sutures. The conjunctiva was pulled over the exposed sclera and sutured with 10-0 nylon to the edge of the graft. The nylon sutures were sequentially removed four-12 months after the surgery. Overall, 43 patients (25 females, 18 males) received surgery over a 10-year period. The mean age of patients at the time of surgery was 11.4 (SD 6.4; range, 1–26) years. Goldenhar syndrome was present in 11 of 43 (26%) patients. Three patients (grade I) underwent simple dermoid excision, and 40 patients (one patient grade I; 39 patients grade II) underwent dermoid excision with lamellar sclerokeratoplasty. The mean dermoid diameter was 5.3 mm (SD 0.6; range, 4.0–7.0). The mean graft diameter was 7.0 mm (SD 0.7; range, 5.2–9.0). The median postoperative follow-up was 36 months (range, 7–108). The median logMAR visual acuity (VA) was 0.3 (SD 0.3) preoperatively and 0.20 (SD 0.2) postoperatively (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p < 0.001). The mean astigmatism was 2.3 (SD 1.0; range, 1.0–6.0) dioptres preoperatively and 1.4 (SD 0.6; range, 0.75–3.25) dioptres postoperatively. Figure 1 shows the preoperative and postoperative images of representative cases. Postoperatively, mild graft opacification was noted in 16 eyes (37%; 95% confidence interval: 24–52) and pseudopterygium occurred in three eyes (7%; 95% confidence interval: 1–19). Postoperative staphyloma was noted in one eye of a 3-year-old young girl at the end of one-year follow-up. Overall, 10 patients (six males, four females) had associated amblyopia and 33 (12 males, 21 females) did not have amblyopia. Both groups were comparable in terms of dermoid diameter (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.062), graft diameter (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.198), preoperative astigmatism (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.077) and postoperative astigmatism (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p = 0.098). Significant differences were noted in preoperative VA and postoperative VA in both groups (Wilcoxon signed rank test, p ≤ 0.002) (Table 1). However, amblyopia was not responsive to surgical management in those who had failed conservative management. The usual surgical approach in limbal dermoids is simple excision mainly due to ease of the procedure. Lamellar keratoplasty is indicated in deep-seated dermoids. In our study, a lamellar graft was performed after excision of dermoid in majority of the cases. We encountered mild graft opacification in 16 eyes, pseudopterygium in three eyes, and staphyloma in one eye. We speculate that staphyloma may be attributed to a thin residual scleral bed, although we did not measure the scleral thickness before or after the surgery. Watts et al. (2002) reported successful surgical management of 49 children with excellent visual results in the majority of their patients. In our study, the mean VA improved significantly after the surgery. However, there was no significant change in the astigmatism postoperatively. This may be attributed to a relatively small tumour size in our patients. We also analysed our patients based on the presence of amblyopia. Both preoperative VA and postoperative VA were better in patients without amblyopia. The VA improved postoperatively in both groups. Our study showed that simple excision with or without lamellar sclerokeratoplasty is effective for management of grade I and grade II corneal limbal dermoids. Long-term follow-up is mandatory especially in young patients to look for possible complications related to scleral thinning.
Journal of Shelter Medicine and Community Animal Health · 2024 · 0 citations · open access
An Accessible Surgical Technique for Corneal Dermoid Removal as an Alternative to Enucleation: A Case Report
AbstractCorneal dermoids compromise ocular health and comfort. Dermoids are made up of cutaneous tissues, often including long hairs. When these hairs contact the cornea or other surrounding tissues, they can result in pain and discomfort. In resource-limited environments, veterinarians often perform enucleation of the affected eye to relieve the discomfort associated with corneal dermoids. This report describes a novel surgical technique to remove a canine corneal dermoid in a shelter using readily available equipment and basic surgical principles. Successful outcome supports an alternative to enucleation and/or referral for treatment of corneal dermoids. Although this procedure may result in decreased corneal clarity at the surgical site, the clinical outcome is acceptable and should be considered when access to specialized equipment and care is not feasible.
Chinese Journal of Practical Ophthalmology · 2009 · 0 citations
The analysis of the treatment and recurrence in corneal dermoid
AbstractObjective To investigate the treatment of corneal dermoid and analysis of the risk of tu-mor recurrence.Method To analyze clinical and pathological materials of 43 cases which were diagnosed to be corenal dermoid perpathology.Dermoid tumor resection in 19 cases,dermoid tumor resection and conjuncti-va cover in 2 cases,dermoid tumor resection and anmiotic membrane transplantation in 1 case,dermoid tumor resection and lamellar keratoplasty in 21 cases.Results 39 cases of them cure, 4 case recur in half-year to six years follow-up visit and needed a second operation.Conclusion In regarding the treatment of corneal dermoid depended on the extent of involvement of the cornea, lamellar keratoplasty in corresponding position can lower the recurrent rate.
Key words:
Corneal dermoid ; lamellar reratoplasty ; Recur ;
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
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