In vivo imaging of mitochondrial function in normal, glaucoma suspect, and glaucoma eyes

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology
• Neuroscience
• Cellular Metabolism

Background:

• Glaucoma is a leading cause of irreversible blindness.
• Mitochondrial dysfunction is implicated in glaucoma pathogenesis.
• Flavoprotein fluorescence (FPF) offers a non-invasive method to assess mitochondrial metabolic activity.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate differences in macula and optic nerve head (ONH) mitochondrial metabolic activity using FPF.
• To compare FPF metrics between normal, glaucoma suspect (GS), and open-angle glaucoma (OAG) eyes.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional, observational study involving 25 normal, 16 GS, and 54 OAG eyes.
• Macula and ONH were scanned using a commercial FPF device (OcuMet Beacon).
• One-way ANOVA and linear regression analyzed FPF scores, correlating them with structural and functional parameters.

Main Results:

• No significant differences in macula or ONH FPF scores were observed between normal, GS, and OAG groups.
• These findings persisted even after normalizing FPF data for structural variations (e.g., retinal nerve fiber layer thickness).
• OAG eyes exhibited characteristic glaucoma-related structural and functional deficits.

Conclusions:

• Current FPF measurements did not reveal significant differences in macula and ONH metabolic activity across the studied groups.
• Further research is warranted to explore the utility of FPF in understanding glaucoma's role in mitochondrial metabolism.