Unaltered myocilin expression in the blood of primary open angle glaucoma patients.
Journal Article
نوع عمل المنشور:
Research Article
رابط المنشور على الويب:
المجلة \ الصحيفة:
Molecular Vision
مستخلص المنشور:
Abstract
Purpose
To investigate the expression of the myocilin gene (MYOC) in the blood of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) patients to determine if altered systemic expression is playing a role.
Methods
Patients (n=47) were eligible for inclusion if they met standard clinical criteria for POAG. Control subjects (n=27) were recruited who were free from glaucoma by examination. RNA was extracted from leukocytes of patients and controls and converted to cDNA by reverse transcriptase enzyme, and quantitative PCR was used to assess expression levels of MYOC and the house keeping gene β-globulin (HBB). The ratio of MYOC expression to HBBexpression for POAG patients was compared to that of controls and to clinical characteristics of POAG patients.
Results
Mean gene expression values were statistically similar in POAG patients and controls for both MYOC (p≤0.55) and HBB (p≤0.48). MYOC/HBB ratios were also statistically indistinguishable between POAG patients and controls (p≤0.90). MYOC/HBB ratios were not significantly associated with age, sex, or ethnicity of patients within the POAG group. Similarly, MYOC/HBB ratios were not significantly associated with clinical parameters related to POAG severity, including maximum intraocular pressure, vertical cup-to-disk ratio, static perimetry mean deviation, or static perimetry pattern standard deviation.
Conclusions
MYOC expression is not altered in the blood of POAG patients, unlike MYOC expression in trabecular meshwork (TM) cultures. These results suggests that MYOC expression is not altered systemically but rather that MYOCexpression may contribute to POAG pathogenesis in specific tissues such as TM.