The role of mitochondrial haplogroups in glaucoma: a study in an Arab population

PURPOSE: Glaucoma prevalence can vary geographically and ethnically, which suggests that a genetic element could play a significant role. Studies investigating the role of various mitochondrial haplogroups in the pathogenesis of glaucoma are scarce. METHODS: We compared the prevalence of different mitochondrial haplogroups in 107 glaucoma patients (49 primary open-angle glaucoma, POAG; 29 primary angle-closure glaucoma, PACG; and 29 pseudoexfoliation glaucoma, PEG) and 552 maternally unrelated normal controls. All patients and controls were Saudi Arabs. RESULTS: There was no statistically significant difference between patients and controls for all mitochondrial haplogroups tested except for PACG patients with mitochondrial haplogroup preHV1 (odds ratio=4.9; 95% CI 2.3 – 10.5; p=0.00002). CONCLUSIONS: Patients with preHV1 mitochondrial haplogroups are at higher risk of developing PACG. However, our study group is relatively small and further studies with more patients in other populations are needed to confirm this interesting finding.