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Plasma endothelin-1 level in Japanese normal tension glaucoma patients.

Kunimatsu S, Mayama C, Tomidokoro A, Araie M

Department of Ophthalmology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.

PURPOSE: To compare the plasma concentration of endothelin-1 (ET-1) among patients < 60 years of age with normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG), and in age-matched normal participants. METHODS: Plasma concentration of ET-1 was determined in 30 NTG 18 POAG patients, and 19 age-matched normal participants using an enzyme immunoassay. RESULTS: The ET-1 level was 1.49 +/- 0.51 pg/ml in the NTG patients (49.4 +/- 8.8 years), 1.58 +/- 0.64 pg/ml in the POAG patients (44.7 +/- 10.7 years), and 1.33 +/- 0.50 pg/ml in the normal participants (49.9 +/- 5.6 years). The ET-1 levels were not significantly different among the three groups, and no significant correlation with the extent of visual field damage, intraocular pressure (IOP), refraction, or age was seen in the glaucoma patients. CONCLUSIONS: The plasma ET-1 level showed no difference among NTG patients, POAG patients, and normal participants < 60 years of age in the Japanese population.

Published 12 September 2006 in Curr Eye Res, 31(9): 727-31.
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