Aqueous humor levels of soluble Fas and Fas-ligand in patients with primary open angle and pseudoexfoliation glaucoma.

BACKGROUND Glaucoma is one of the most common causes of blindness and is usually associated with elevated intraocular pressure. In patients with primary open angle glaucoma the number of trabecular meshwork cells is decreased. Death of the trabecular meshwork cells may be a result of apoptosis. OBJECTIVE To investigate the aqueous humor levels of soluble Fas (sFas) and Fas-Ligand (sFasL) in glaucomatous patients. METHODS Concentration of sFas and sFasL were measured by ELISA in 41 eyes with glaucoma (21 with pseudoexfoliation and 20 with primary open angle glaucoma) and 39 eyes with cataract as controls. RESULTS The sFas concentration was lower in the primary open angle than the pseudoexfoliation glaucoma and the cataract groups (P=0.002 and P= 0.004, respectively). The sFasL level did not show any significant difference in the three groups. CONCLUSION A lower level of sFas may provide proper microenvironment for increased apoptosis of trabecular meshwork cells in primary open angle glaucoma.