Clinical and experimental links between diabetes and glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. It is a multifactorial condition, the risk factors for which are increasingly well defined from large-scale epidemiological studies. One risk factor that remains controversial is the presence of diabetes. It has been proposed that diabetic eyes are at greate...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Clinical and experimental optometry 2011-01, Vol.94 (1), p.4-23
Main Authors: Wong, Vickie Hy, Bui, Bang V, Vingrys, Algis J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Apoptosis
Cell Death
diabetes
Diabetes Complications
Diabetes Mellitus - pathology
Diabetes Mellitus - physiopathology
Diabetic Angiopathies - complications
Disease Models, Animal
Disease Susceptibility
dyslipidaemia
Dyslipidemias - complications
ganglion cells
glaucoma
Glaucoma - complications
Glaucoma - physiopathology
Humans
hyperglycaemia
intraocular pressure
Neural Pathways - pathology
Neural Pathways - physiopathology
Ocular Hypertension - etiology
Optic Nerve Diseases - etiology
Oxidative Stress
Polymers - metabolism
retina
Retina - pathology
Retina - physiopathology
Retinal Ganglion Cells - pathology
Risk Factors
Sorbitol - metabolism
Vision, Ocular
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Summary:Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. It is a multifactorial condition, the risk factors for which are increasingly well defined from large-scale epidemiological studies. One risk factor that remains controversial is the presence of diabetes. It has been proposed that diabetic eyes are at greater risk of injury from external stressors, such as elevated intraocular pressure. Alternatively, diabetes may cause ganglion cell loss, which becomes additive to a glaucomatous ganglion cell injury. Several clinical trials have considered whether a link exists between diabetes and glaucoma. In this review, we outline these studies and consider the causes for their lack of concordant findings. We also review the biochemical and cellular similarities between the two conditions. Moreover, we review the available literature that attempts to answer the question of whether the presence of diabetes increases the risk of developing glaucoma. At present, laboratory studies provide robust evidence for an association between diabetes and glaucoma.
ISSN:0816-4622
1444-0938
DOI:10.1111/j.1444-0938.2010.00546.x