Links among glaucoma, neurodegenerative, and vascular diseases of the central nervous system

Carlo Nucci; Alessio Martucci; Massimo Cesareo; Francesco Garaci; Luigi Antonio Morrone; Rossella Russo; Maria Tiziana Corasaniti; Giacinto Bagetta; Raffaele Mancino

doi:10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.04.010

Links among glaucoma, neurodegenerative, and vascular diseases of the central nervous system

Prog Brain Res. 2015:221:49-65. doi: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.04.010. Epub 2015 Jul 2.

Authors

Carlo Nucci¹, Alessio Martucci², Massimo Cesareo², Francesco Garaci³, Luigi Antonio Morrone⁴, Rossella Russo⁵, Maria Tiziana Corasaniti⁶, Giacinto Bagetta⁴, Raffaele Mancino²

Affiliations

¹ Ophthalmology Unit, Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy. Electronic address: nucci@med.uniroma2.it.
² Ophthalmology Unit, Department of Experimental Medicine and Surgery, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
³ Diagnostic Imaging Section, Tor Vergata University Hospital, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Rome, Italy.
⁴ Department of Pharmacy and Health and Nutritional Sciences, Section of Preclinical and Translational Pharmacology, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy; University Consortium for Adaptive Disorders and Head Pain (UCHAD), Section of Neuropharmacology of Normal and Pathological Neuronal Plasticity, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
⁵ Department of Pharmacy and Health and Nutritional Sciences, Section of Preclinical and Translational Pharmacology, University of Calabria, Arcavacata di Rende, Italy.
⁶ Department of Health Sciences, University "Magna Graecia" of Catanzaro, Catanzaro, Italy.

PMID: 26518072
DOI: 10.1016/bs.pbr.2015.04.010

Abstract

Glaucoma is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Although the intraocular pressure (IOP) has been considered for long time the key point and the only treatable risk factor of the disease, there are cases in which glaucoma continues to progress despite normal IOP values. Vision loss in glaucoma is related to a selective decrease in the number of retinal ganglion cells by apoptosis that is associated to alterations of the central visual pathways. Interestingly, similar events have been also described in disorders of the central nervous system (CNS), such as Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy, and cerebrovascular diseases. In this review, we discuss recent evidence supporting pathological links between glaucoma and disorders of the CNS.

Keywords: Alzheimer; Cerebrovascular diseases; Glaucoma; Leber; Parkinson.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Review

MeSH terms

Cerebrovascular Disorders / physiopathology*
Glaucoma / physiopathology*
Humans
Intraocular Pressure / physiology
Neurodegenerative Diseases / physiopathology*
Spinal Cord Vascular Diseases / physiopathology*