The following is a summary of “Reduced glutathione level in the aqueous humor of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and normal-tension glaucoma,” published in the November 2023 issue of Opthalmology by Sato et al.
Glaucoma, a major cause of vision loss among the elderly, necessitates a thorough understanding of ocular conditions. Analyzing the aqueous humor’s metabolic composition offers insight into eye-related physiological and pathological states. This research utilized mass spectrometry to explore the metabolomic landscape of aqueous humor and its biological characteristics in glaucoma patients. Samples were gathered during trabeculectomy or cataract surgeries from 40 individuals with glaucoma (32 with primary open-angle glaucoma [POAG] and 8 with normal-tension glaucoma [NTG]) alongside 37 control subjects.
The analysis identified five elevated and three reduced metabolites in glaucoma patients, exhibiting a robust diagnostic performance (area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.953). Specifically, among the identified metabolites, glutathione displayed a significant decrease, correlating with visual field impairments. Confirmatory investigations validated the consistency of these findings, revealing reduced glutathione levels in both NTG and POAG patients compared to a cataract control group. This study underscores the utility of aqueous humor profiling in diagnosing glaucoma, emphasizing the link between various metabolites and clinical parameters in affected individuals.
Moreover, the noteworthy reduction of glutathione in the aqueous humor of glaucoma patients, regardless of intraocular pressure (IOP)-dependent or IOP-independent disease subtypes, indicates the possible involvement of oxidative stress in the genesis of glaucomatous optic nerve damage. These findings highlight the potential role of antioxidant elements in the aqueous humor as indicators of glaucoma-related ocular injury and suggest the implication of heightened oxidative stress in developing this condition.
Source: nature.com/articles/s41514-023-00124-2
