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Editors Selection IGR 16-4

Basic Research - Outflow: PO₂ and stress outflow pathways

Comment by Jonathan Crowston on:

46477 Racial differences in ocular oxidative metabolism: Implications for ocular disease, Siegfried CJ; Shui Y-B; Holekamp NM et al., Archives of Ophthalmology, 2011; 129: 849-854

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Siegfried et al. (1233) measured PO₂ distribution, with an optical oxygen sensor, in the anterior segments of patients undergoing cataract and/or trabeculectomy. They compared PO₂ values in 19 African Americans' eyes with similar measurements taken from 53 Caucasian eyes. The major finding was that African Americans had significantly higher PO₂ values than Caucasians and that the PO₂ beneath the central cornea increased with increasing age irrespective of racial origin. Although potentially interesting, significant differences were also reported between the two groups in other parameters, including older age and reduced central corneal thickness in the African Americans. The authors go on to suggest that this increase in observed PO₂ reflects underlying differences in oxygen use in the cornea and lens of African Americans. They also proposed that the increase in PO₂ could promote oxidative stress in the outflow pathways and provide a mechanism for the increased rates of ocular hypertension and open-angle glaucoma observed in African Americans. This is an interesting hypothesis and we look forward to further studies that provide supporting evidence.

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