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Glutamate may not be related to glaucoma, study finds
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IOWA CITY, Iowa — A small study has failed to confirm recent findings connecting glutamate levels to the pathogenesis of glaucoma.
“Our study did not provide the expected result, and raises questions about the dynamic nature of the levels of extracellular glutamate in glaucoma,” wrote Young Kwon, MD, PhD, and colleagues in the February issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.
The authors suggest a potential cause for differences may be the method by which the vitreous specimen was collected. In this study, undiluted vitreous samples were taken from 69 patients undergoing vitrectomy preoperatively as opposed to other studies that collected vitreous samples during cataract surgery. Vitreous concentrations of 16 amino acids, including glutamate, were determined using a high-pressure liquid chromatography.
None of the 16 amino acids measured were significantly elevated in the vitreous of those patients with glaucoma compared with the control group.