The Associations of Plasma Brain-derived Neurotrophic Factor with Macular Structure and Visual Function in Open-angle Glaucoma: A Cross-sectional Study
Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 31, 2026
Assessing Early Stage Open-Angle Glaucoma in Patients by Isolated-Check Visual Evoked Potential
Published on: May 25, 2020
Naoki Sugita1, Naoki Takahashi1, Naoko Takada1
1Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Prcis:
Plasma BDNF differed across glaucoma severity stages and was cross-sectionally associated with visual and structural parameters; in exploratory age-stratified analyses, the fitted csGCCT-BCVA relationship differed between younger and older patients.
Purpose:
To compare the plasma level of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) in open-angle glaucoma (OAG) patients across disease stages and to examine its associations with visual and structural parameters.
Patients And Methods:
This cross-sectional study included 167 control (cataract) patients and 800 patients with OAG. Plasma BDNF level was measured using a bead-based immunoassay (Luminex). Clinical variables included best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), Humphrey Field Analyzer 24-2 indices, and swept-source optical coherence tomography measurements of superior, central, and inferior papillomacular central-strip ganglion cell complex thickness (csGCCT). Glaucoma severity was classified with the Anderson-Patella criteria. Exploratory generalized additive models characterized the central csGCCT-BCVA relationship by age group and by lowest versus highest quartile.
Results:
Plasma BDNF was lower in early and moderate glaucoma patients than in controls (P=0.006, 0.001) but higher in advanced than in early or moderate glaucoma patients (P=0.040, 0.006). The highest-BDNF-quartile glaucoma patients had worse BCVA and mean deviation (MD) than the lowest-quartile patients, with significantly lower central csGCCT. Among patients aged <60 years, the fitted central csGCCT-BCVA relationship differed between the highest and lowest BDNF quartiles, with higher fitted logMAR in the highest-quartile group at lower csGCCT values.
Conclusions:
Plasma BDNF level differed across OAG disease stages and was associated with visual and structural parameters. Among younger patients, plasma BDNF quartile was associated with the fitted csGCCT-BCVA relationship. These cross-sectional findings do not establish temporal or causal relationships.
