ATHEROSCLEROSIS & GLAUCOMA RISK

 

Atherosclerosis is the thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a buildup of plaque in the inner lining of an artery. The plaque comprises deposits of fatty substances, cholesterol, cellular waste products, calcium, and fibrin. As it builds up in the arteries, the artery walls become thickened and stiff affecting blood flow and compromising tissue health.

A study found carbonic anhydrase I (CA1), a CA family member, was highly expressed in atherosclerotic tissues of the aorta and stimulated atherosclerosis (AS) by promoting calcification. On the other hand, Methazolamide (MTZ), an oral CA inhibitor used in the treatment of glaucoma showed therapeutic and preventive effects on AS.

These findings suggest a relationship between AS and glaucoma.

A study by Song and colleagues in China was performed to confirm the validity of this hypothesis.

Among 152,425 AS patients, 1245 patients were also diagnosed with glaucoma (8.17‰). The incidence of glaucoma in the general hypertensive population (excluding AS) was 5.75% (1149/199,782 patients). The incidence of glaucoma in the AS patients was significantly higher (especially in those above 65 years of age) than in the hypertensive population and in the general population (both p values between groups were below 0.001).

In comparison, the incidence of glaucoma in patients without hypertension or AS was 1.79‰ (9513/5,313,433 patients).

Subgroup analysis showed that AS patients (especially those with arterial calcification) were more likely to suffer from angle-closure glaucoma (81.8%) than from open-angle glaucoma (18.2%).

MTZ decreased LDL levels while treating glaucoma. On the other hand, 5 patients (36%) had increased HDL levels after MTZ treatment. The average HDL level before treatment was 1.22±0.28 mmol/L, and the average value after MTZ treatment was1.46±0.37 mmol/L. This observation indicated that MTZ seemed to increase HDL levels following MTZ treatment for glaucoma, although the difference was not significant (p=0.08).

It can be surmised that the malfunction of CAs or the abnormal expression of their genes leads to the pathogenesis of various diseases, which could be interlinked.

REFERENCE:

Song, X., Li, P., Li, Y. et al. Strong association of glaucoma with atherosclerosis. Sci Rep 11, 8792 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88322-4.