The Roles And Mechanisms Of Elevated Intraocular Pressure In Glaucomatous Optic Neuropathy

Background and ObjectiveGlaucoma is a worldwide, severe, irreversible blindness disease. It is recognized as a second leading cause of blindness, next only to cataract. For a long time, elevated intraocular pressure has been known as the principal risk factor of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. Accordingly, lowering the elevated IOP is the major management in glaucoma patients. However, the visual function deterioration occurs in some patients, even as their IOP are better controlled. Therefore, further investigations should be conducted about the roles and the mechanisms of elevated IOP in the pathogenesis of glaucomatous optic neuropathy. To resolve these problems, optic nerve and astrocyte in optic nerve are observed as elevated IOP and controlled IOP.Materials and MethodsOne hundred and ninety seven male SD rats whose weights were 200~250g were enrolled in this study.The right eyes of the seventeen rats were considered as the control groups, while the left eyes of the same rats were manipulated with episcleral venous cauterization. All rats were divided into three groups, in which two, three or four veins were cauterized and were designated as groups A, B, C. Among these groups IOP and corneal edema were compared. One month later all rats were sacrificed and the eyes were enucleated. The observations of retina and optic nerve were made with light and electron microscopy.One hundred and eigthty SD rats were included in this study. All animals...