The influence of age upon inflammatory cell counts and structure of conjunctiva in chronic open-angle glaucoma

We evaluated the influence of age upon conjunctival structure and number of inflammatory cells by studying perioperative conjunctival biopsies from 54 consecutive primary open-angle glaucoma patients undergoing initial filtering surgery (trabeculectomy alone or combined cataract extraction and trabeculectomy). All patients had received chronic topical glaucoma therapy for > 1 year. We divided the patients into three age groups for analysis: 40-60 (n = 10), 61-74 (n = 28), and > 75 (n = 16) years. We found no statistical difference (p > 0.05, chi-square) in cell counts of neutrophils, eosinophils, mast cells, macrophages, fibroblasts, lymphocytes, plasma cells and goblet cells across the three age groups. In addition, no statistical differences were observed between age groups in vascular density, epithelial thickness as well as mucopolysaccharide and collagen composition (p > 0.05, chi square). This study suggests that conjunctival structure and inflammatory cell counts change little with advancing age in primary open-angle glaucoma patients.