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Published on: March 23, 2016
An enhanced expression of ABC 1 transporter in circulating leukocytes as a potential molecular marker for the
K Yeghiazaryan1, J Flammer, K Wunderlich
1Department of Radiology, Division of Molecular/Experimental Radiology, University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany.
Objective:
Glaucoma is a neurodegenerative disease. Since vascular dysregulation is supposed to be a risk factor for the development of glaucomatous damage, the preventive treatment might slow down the disease development. The efficiency of the therapeutic treatment depends particularly on a drug efflux pump regulated by ABC transporters. ABC 1 is also known to participate on the vascular regulation. This study was focused on the comparative analysis of ABC 1 expression levels in circulating leukocytes of non-glaucomatous individuals and glaucoma patients.
Results And Conclusions:
The expression rates of ABC 1 were significantly increased in leukocytes of glaucoma patients compared to non-glaucomatous individuals. The expression level of ABC 1 was, furthermore, highly homogeneous in glaucoma patients. In contrast, these expression levels in non-glaucomatous individuals were extremely heterogeneous. This transporter acts as the energy-dependent unidirectional transmembrane cholesterol efflux pump and can export a wide range of hydrophobic drugs. Additionally an observed enhanced ABC 1 expression in circulating leukocytes may be implicated in the vascular regulation mechanisms of glaucoma. We proposed the enhanced expression of ABC 1 in leukocytes as a potential marker for the diagnostics and ex vivo molecular monitoring of glaucoma.
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