Shastry Studies Glaucoma

Scientific results are typically reported in papers, conference proceedings, or abstracts, but occasionally by other methods. Associate Professor Barkur Shastry, of the Department of Biological Sciences, and his colleagues, reported their most recent results in a letter to the editor. Their letter, titled Autosomal Recessive Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (POAG) in Beagles is Not Associated with Mutations in the Myocilin (MYOC) Gene, appeared in the October 2009 issue of Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology (Volume 247, Pages 1435-1436). They open the letter by writing

"Glaucoma is a group of genetically heterogeneous eye disorders that affects all age groups throughout the world. It is one of the most common causes of irreversible bilateral blindness in humans, and is characterized by the progressive degeneration of the optic nerve caused by an elevated intraocular pressure."

They then note that glaucoma can be caused by a defect on a gene

"...called myocilin (MYOC), which is expressed in the photoreceptor cells of the retina. Mutations in the MYOC gene have been found to be associated with juvenile- and adult-onset primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG)."

They performed their experiments using an animal model--the beagle--and concluded

"In order to understand the genetic basis of POAG in beagles, in this study, we analyzed seven glaucomatous dogs for mutations in MYOC gene, but failed to detect any pathogenic alterations in the coding region of the MYOC gene."