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Gene’s link to normal tension glaucoma ruled out
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A genetic polymorphism that has been linked with cell death does not play a role in the pathogenesis of normal tension glaucoma, a group of English researchers claim.
Particular apolipoprotein E polymorphisms have been associated with cell death and survival in neurological degenerative diseases, so Stewart Lake and colleagues investigated whether they might have a role in normal tension glaucoma. They found that the frequency of apolipoprotein E gene polymorphisms was not different between normal tension glaucoma patients and normal subjects, suggesting that this gene does not play a role in this type of optic neuropathy.
The Oxford Eye Hospital researchers compared the apolipoprotein E genotype of 155 patients with normal tension glaucoma to that of 349 unaffected control subjects. A similar comparison was made between 53 patients with normal tension glaucoma who demonstrated progressive field loss and normal subjects.
No significant difference was expressed in the frequency of the gene alleles or genotypes in the normal tension glaucoma group compared to the control group. Neither the alleles nor genotypes in the normal tension glaucoma group with progressive visual field loss were different from the control group.
The study is published in the April issue of British Journal of Ophthalmology.