Eurasian and Sub-Saharan African mitochondrial DNA haplogroup influences pseudoexfoliation glaucoma development in Saudi patients

PURPOSE: To investigate whether different mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) haplogroups have a role on the development of pseudoexfoliation glaucoma (PEG) in the Saudi Arab population. METHODS: The mtDNA regulatory region and coding regions comprising mtDNA haplogroup diagnostic polymorphisms were sequenced in patients with PEG (n=94), healthy matched controls (free of PEG; n=112) and a healthy Saudi Arab population group (n=810). RESULTS: The Eurasian haplogroup T and the Sub-Saharan African Haplogroup L2 confer susceptibility to PEG, whereas the Eurasian haplogroup N1 was associated with reduced risk to develop PEG in the Saudi Arab population. CONCLUSIONS: Mitochondrial haplogroups T and L2 may play a role in the development of PEG in the Saudi Arabian population.