{"id":25065,"date":"2019-03-11T12:00:36","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T18:00:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/?p=25065"},"modified":"2019-03-14T13:13:43","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T19:13:43","slug":"mexican-researchers-detect-proteins-for-early-detection-of-glaucoma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/mexican-researchers-detect-proteins-for-early-detection-of-glaucoma\/","title":{"rendered":"Mexican researchers detect proteins for early detection of glaucoma"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, and can cause loss of vision and total blindness. After a study to find markers that help an early diagnosis, experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) detected 63 proteins expressed only in patients with this condition<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With this research, “we confirm that the family history, myopia and age are the main risk factors that detonate glaucoma in Mexicans<\/em><\/strong>,” said Francisca Dom\u00ednguez Due\u00f1as, an academic at the UNAM Faculty of Medicine (FM).<\/p>\n

Currently, this condition is detected until the functional and structural damage of the eye is 50 percent<\/strong>; therefore, it is considered the main cause of irreversible blindness in the world.<\/p>\n

The main characteristic of this chronic disease is damage to the optic nerve. It is asymptomatic and causes the progressive visual field decay<\/strong>. In addition, when the disease is finally detected, the patient has had it for ten years<\/strong>, said Dom\u00ednguez Due\u00f1as.<\/p>\n

The study<\/h3>\n

In collaboration with the National Institute of Genomic Medicine (INMEGEN) and the National Institute of Rehabilitation (INR), Dom\u00ednguez Due\u00f1as and her team made 550 ophthalmological reviews to INR patients to verify if they had any deterioration in the optic nerve<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

The researchers found in the sample that 505 patients were healthy, 20 patients that had previous diagnosis of glaucoma were reconfirmed, and 25 patients were confirmed as new cases<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With a blood sample taken from each of the 550 patients, a proteomic study (of the structure and function of the proteins) was carried out<\/strong>, allowing them identifying and comparing a group of proteins expressed in glaucoma patients, with another group of control or healthy patients.<\/p>\n

The researchers discovered that some proteins that were absent in healthy patients were overexpressed in glaucoma patients<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

With these proteomic biomarkers in the blood, it may be feasible to implement an early diagnosis test for people who could develop primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)<\/strong>, e.g. people with family history, myopia or older adults.<\/p>\n

“High eye pressure is the main risk factor for developing glaucoma; however, it is not a diagnostic criterion, because we can find patients with glaucoma with ocular pressure within the normal statistical range (from 10 to 21 mmHg),<\/em><\/strong>” he said.<\/p>\n

For Dominguez Duenas this research will allow us to better understand the disease, expand knowledge about its development, determine the metabolic pathways that involve neurodegeneration and, in the future, develop other therapeutic alternatives.<\/p>\n

POAG<\/h3>\n

POAG is the most common form of glaucoma, with 70 percent of all cases<\/strong>. When it manifests is because 50 percent of the ganglion cells of the optic nerve (which belongs to the central nervous system) is already lost. As these cells, or neurons, do not regenerate, it causes irreversible blindness.<\/p>\n

In addition to reviewing eye pressure, drainage system of the eye and the fundus of the eye, among others, the researchers performed an optical tomography that generates an image where the thickness of the nerve fiber layer of the optic nerve is measured<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Under normal conditions, \u201cit should measure 100 microns, but if it is below 80, it is necessary to rule out the diagnosis of glaucoma<\/em><\/strong>,” concluded the also deputy director of Ophthalmology of the INR.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Source: <\/strong>DGCS UNAM<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that damage the optic nerve, and can cause loss of vision and total blindness. After a study to find markers that help an early diagnosis, experts from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) detected 63 proteins expressed only in patients with this condition. With this research, “we confirm …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":25095,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[15],"class_list":["post-25065","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-actualidad-en-la-salud","tag-casalud","cat-3-id","has_thumb"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25065","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25065"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25065\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25096,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25065\/revisions\/25096"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25095"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25065"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25065"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.salud.carlosslim.org\/english2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25065"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}