New biomarkers reveal if glaucoma patients are at high risk of losing eyesight

New Delhi: A team of researchers has discovered blood markers that may predict whether glaucoma patients are at a higher risk of continuing to lose eyesight after normal therapy.

Glaucoma (known as kala motia in India), affects nearly 11.2 million people aged 40 and above in India. It's the third common cause of blindness in our country, according to experts.

The main factors for glaucoma are old age and high blood pressure. Treatments to lower the intraocular pressure in the eye are available but they are not foolproof.

Researchers from University College London (UCL) and Moorfields Eye Hospital in the UK investigated whether mitochondrial function, as evaluated in white blood cells, is lower in people with glaucoma and if there is any connection at all.

The subjects were studied on the efficiency of their blood cells using oxygen, the amount of eyesight lost over time, and the levels of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD).

NAD is a chemical in the body that helps cells produce energy and is derived from vitamin B3 in the food.

Firstly, the researchers observed that particular cells in the blood, known as peripheral blood mononuclear cells, use oxygen differently in persons with glaucoma.

Secondly, people with glaucoma have lower amounts of NAD in their blood cells, which means lower oxygen consumption in their body cells, according to the study published in the journal Nature Medicine.

"White blood cell mitochondrial function and NAD levels, if introduced as a clinical test, would enable clinicians to predict which patients are at higher risk of continued vision loss, allowing them to be prioritised for more intensive monitoring and treatment," said Senior author Professor David (Ted) Garway-Heath from UCL’s Institute of Ophthalmology and Moorfields Eye Hospital.

If research proves that low mitochondrial function or NAD is a factor, then new treatments can be introduced, said authors.

The researchers are now running a major clinical research to see if high-dose vitamin B3 can improve mitochondrial function and minimize vision loss, opening up new avenues.