GSTM1  polymorphism in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma.
Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is  characterized by loss of retinal ganglion cells, optic nerve damage and  irreversible loss of visual field. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of  blindness worldwide. It was estimated that in 2010 there were about 60.5  million glaucoma cases worldwide; among these patients, 4.5 million will become  bilaterally blind. Glutathione S-transferases (GST) are a group of  drug-metabolizing enzymes of phase-II that act in the detoxification of  xenobiotics and inactivate end-products formed as secondary metabolites during  oxidative stress. Through PCR amplification, we analyzed the GSTM1 gene in DNA  samples from 25 patients with POAG and 25 controls; 14 of the patients  presented the GSTM1 gene null polymorphism while only eight of the control  group had this gene.Although the POAG patients had a higher frequency of GSTM1,  the difference was not significant (P = 0.0874); this lack of significance  could be due to the small sample size.
Curso de Biologia, Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Goiás, Goiânia, GO, Brasil. andreiamarcelino_@hotmail.com
A M
AM
Barbosa
A B
AB
Frare
N B
NB
Costa
R E
RE
Silva
K K V O
KK
Moura
D000428:Alcohol Drinking / Q000235:genetics; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005902:Glaucoma, Open-Angle / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000235:genetics*; D005982:Glutathione Transferase / Q000235:genetics*; D006801:Humans; D011110:Polymorphism, Genetic; D012907:Smoking / Q000235:genetics
D005982:Glutathione Transferase