Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2009:15:912-9.
Epub 2009 May 4.

Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and primary glaucoma in Saudis

Najwa Mohammed Al-Dabbagh  1 , Nourah Al-Dohayan, Misbahul Arfin, Mohammad Tariq
Affiliations

Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and primary glaucoma in Saudis

Najwa Mohammed Al-Dabbagh et al. Mol Vis. 2009.

Abstract

Purpose: The frequencies of apolipoprotein E (APOE) alleles and genotypes were examined in 230 Saudi subjects including primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG; n=60) and primary angle-closure glaucoma (PACG; n=40) patients as well as 130 control subjects.

Methods: The presence of glaucoma in patients was based on clinical examination and/or ophthalmic records. The APOE allele frequency (epsilon2, epsilon3, and epsilon4) was studied by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) followed by reverse-hybridization and restriction fragment length polymorphism techniques.

Results: Analysis of data showed a complete absence of epsilon2 allele and a significantly lower frequency of the epsilon3 allele in primary glaucoma patients (90.5%) compared to the control subjects (95.7%, p=0.034, relative risk [RR]=0.473, protective fraction [PF]=0.318). The frequency of the epsilon4 allele was significantly higher in the glaucoma patients (9.5%) compared to the control subjects (4.2%, p=0.034, RR=2.169, etiological fraction [EF]=0.329). The epsilon3/epsilon3 genotype was more common in controls than patients (p=0.060, RR=0.465, PF=0.322). The difference in genotype (epsilon3/epsilon4) was not statistically significant between the two groups (p=0.283). Genotype epsilon4/epsilon4 was found only in 3% of patients while being completely absent in the controls (p=0.080). The genotypes, epsilon2/epsilon2, epsilon2/epsilon3, and epsilon2/epsilon4, were absent in both the test and control groups. When patients were divided on the basis of types of glaucoma, POAG patients had a significantly higher frequency of epsilon4 allele and epsilon4/epsilon4 genotype than controls whereas there was no significant difference between PACG patient and control groups in frequencies of APOE alleles and genotypes.

Conclusions: This study indicates that the epsilon4 allele may be associated with POAG and could be a risk factor while epsilon3 may be protective for POAG, and APOE polymorphisms may not be associated at all with PACG in Saudis.

PubMed Disclaimer

References

    1. Quigley HA. Number of people with glaucoma worldwide. Br J Ophthalmol. 1996;80:389–93. - PMC - PubMed
    1. Wilson R, Martone J. Epidemiology of chronic open-angle glaucoma. In: Ritch R, Shields M, Krupin T, editors. The Glaucomas. Vol II. St. Louis: Mosby; 1996. p. 753–68.
    1. Quigley HA. Open-angle glaucoma. N Engl J Med. 1993;328:1097–106. - PubMed
    1. Sarfarazi M. Recent advances in molecular genetics of glaucomas. Hum Mol Genet. 1997;6:1667–77. - PubMed
    1. Anderson DR. Glaucoma: the damage caused by pressure. XLVI Edward Jackson memorial lecture. Am J Ophthalmol. 1989;108:485–95. - PubMed

LinkOut - more resources