Journal of Inflammation Research (Feb 2024)

Inflammation and Neurodegeneration in Glaucoma: Isolated Eye Disease or a Part of a Systemic Disorder? - Serum Proteomic Analysis

  • Okruszko MA,
  • Szabłowski M,
  • Zarzecki M,
  • Michnowska-Kobylińska M,
  • Lisowski Ł,
  • Łapińska M,
  • Stachurska Z,
  • Szpakowicz A,
  • Kamiński KA,
  • Konopińska J

Journal volume & issue
Vol. Volume 17
pp. 1021 – 1037

Abstract

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Michał Andrzej Okruszko,1 Maciej Szabłowski,1 Mateusz Zarzecki,1 Magdalena Michnowska-Kobylińska,1 Łukasz Lisowski,1 Magda Łapińska,2 Zofia Stachurska,2 Anna Szpakowicz,3 Karol Adam Kamiński,2 Joanna Konopińska1 1Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Bialystok, Białystok, 15-089, Poland; 2Department of Population Medicine and Lifestyle Diseases Prevention, Medical University of Białystok, Białystok, Poland; 3Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Białystok, PolandCorrespondence: Joanna Konopińska, Medical University of Białystok, Kilinskiego 1 STR, Białystok, 15-089, Poland, TelFax + 48857468372, Fax + 48857468372, Email [email protected]: Glaucoma is the most common optic neuropathy and the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide, which affects 3.54% of the population aged 40– 80 years. Despite numerous published studies, some aspects of glaucoma pathogenesis, serum biomarkers, and their potential link with other diseases remain unclear. Recent articles have proposed that autoimmune, oxidative stress and inflammation may be involved in the pathogenesis of glaucoma.Methods: We investigated the serum expression of 92 inflammatory and neurotrophic factors in glaucoma patients. The study group consisted of 26 glaucoma patients and 192 healthy subjects based on digital fundography.Results: Patients with glaucoma had significantly lower serum expression of IL-2Rβ, TWEAK, CX3CL1, CD6, CD5, LAP TGF-beta1, LIF-R, TRAIL, NT-3, and CCL23 and significantly higher expression of IL-22Rα 1.Conclusion: Our results indicate that patients with glaucoma tend to have lower levels of neuroprotective proteins and higher levels of neuroinflammatory proteins, similar to those observed in psychiatric, neurodegenerative and autoimmune diseases, indicating a potential link between these conditions and glaucoma pathogenesis.Keywords: glaucoma, inflammation, neurodegeneration, proteomics, Olink

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