Smoking, an additional risk factor in elder women with primary open-angle glaucoma

[摘要] Purpose: Smoking is a serious publichealth problem worldwide. Some authors refer to it as the “silentepidemic of the 20th century.” It constitutes an important risk factorfor ocular pathologies such as age-related macular degeneration (ARMD),diabetic retinopathy, and neuropathy because the toxic effects oftobacco play a key role in the deterioration of eye tissue. Damage totrabecular meshwork cells (TMC) and retinal ganglion cells (RGC),involving inflammation and apoptosis mechanisms, has been proved inglaucoma. The aim of this study was to determine whether smokinginfluences the progression of primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) inwomen. Methods: This experimental studyinvolved a sampling of consecutive cases of smokers, ex-smokers andnon-smokers women with POAG. One hundred and twenty women with POAG,aged 40–90 years, were enrolled (40 smokers, 40 ex-smokers and 40non-smokers). Samples of aqueous humor (AH) and plasma from eachsubject were obtained at the beginning of the surgical procedures. Bothinflammation and apoptosis processes in the subjects were studied bymeans of enzyme immunoassay and western blot procedures respectively.We analyzed the interleukin-6 (IL-6) levels as an inflammation markerand the expression of caspase-3 and poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase 1(PARP-1) as apoptosis markers. Results: IL-6, caspase-3, and PARP-1levels were significantly higher in the smoker women who smoked than inthe ex-smoker and non-smoker glaucomatous groups of the same gender(p<0,05). Conclusions: Inflammation and apoptosismarker levels increase with smoking in the aqueous humor and plasmasamples of POAG women. Smoking could be an important additional riskfactor for glaucoma progression in elderly women.

[学科分类] 生物化学/生物物理