[Changes of neuroglia cells in human glaucoma and animal model of experimental glaucoma]

Glaucoma is one of the major ocular diseases that lead to blindness. It is characterized by optic disk cupping and visual field loss. Glaucoma is a multifactorial group of diseases with many different causes but one common endpoint, progressive loss of retinal ganglion cells. Hence most studies of glaucoma focused on retinal ganglion cells and their nosogenesis. But recent studies have showed that neuroglia cells, as another major kind of cells of nerve system, also undergo an activation process in glaucoma. Their activation is closely connected with the changes of retinal ganglion cells as well as the development of the disease. Therefore, more and more attention is focused on the changes of these cells. This review is a summary about the recent studies on the pathological changes of these four different kinds of neuroglia cells in human glaucoma and in several animal models of experimental glaucoma.