Our eyes are like many other parts of our body. Over time, they begin to deteriorate. A new study shows that stress can accelerate the aging process. This could be a breakthrough that could help us to treat any eye problems that may develop as we age, including those that are associated with vision loss. glaucoma.
The research is based upon tests on mice but the team thinks that the same principles could be applied to humans.
The common resultA rise in psychological stress even in the healthiest people is an indication of a rising incidence of Pressure intraocular(IOP, also called ocular hypertension) refers to the fluid pressure within the eye. Glaucoma is known to be linked with elevated IOP. It seems that biological aging markers such as changes in molecular tags and proteins that regulate which genes are turned on or off, may also be caused by this physiological stress.
“The epigenetic modificationsWe observed that changes in the chromatin levels are acquired over time, after multiple instances of stress.” says ophthalmologist Dorota Skowronska-KrawczykFrom the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine.
“This gives us a window of opportunity to prevent vision loss, if the disease is detected early.”
The team looked at the optic nerve head of mouse eyes – the place where retinal cells at the back of the eye converge to form the nerve that goes to the brain – in which IOP had been artificially elevated. While the difference in IOP was less for younger mice than it was for control animals, older mice that had mildly elevated eye pressure experienced a loss or reduction of nerve fibers. This also occurs with glaucoma patients.
In other words, older mice were more likely to be exposed to pressure changes on their eyes. This causes inflammation and eventually leads to damage to the cells. Cell function loss can take years to develop naturally.
IOP in humans isn’t stable, it fluctuates throughout the day. More extreme and prolonged fluctuations have previously been associated with the progression of glaucoma, and the researchers behind the new study think that the cumulative effect of these fluctuations – and the pressure they put on the eye – is responsible for the aging of the tissue.
“Our research shows that even mild hydrostatic IOP elevation can cause retinal ganglion cell death and corresponding visual defects in aged animals.” says Skowronska-Krawczyk.
“We are still trying to understand how accumulative changes occur in aging so that we can identify therapeutic targets. We are also testing new approaches to stop the acceleration of aging due to stress.
Now that they have detected these pressure-induced changes, the researchers think they can use it as a way to assess the epigenetic age of tissue in the eye – the amount of wear and tear, essentially – and through that make treatments more targeted and more personalized for individual patients.
Psychological stresses aside There are many other factors that can influence the outcome.Eye pressure can rise due to many factors, including genetics, eye trauma, and medications. But even though IOP rises, there are ways to study its impact and save millions of eyesight.
Glaucoma cases are expected to rise as the world’s population ages. It could be reachedAs many as 110 million people could be living in 2040. These conditions can eventually lead blindness if they are not treated.
While there’s no way to reverse glaucoma damage completely, it can be managed – and being able to detect it (and the causes leading up to it earlier) would make a significant difference in eyesight loss.
“Our work stresses the importance of early diagnosis, prevention and age-specific management for age-related disease such as glaucoma.” says Skowronska-Krawczyk.
The research was published in Cells for Aging.
