Clinical characteristics of glaucoma patients with various risk factors.

BACKGROUND: Glaucoma is multifactorial, but the interrelationship between risk factors and structural changes remains unclear. Here, we adjusted for confounding factors in glaucoma patients with differing risk factors, and compared differences in structure and susceptible areas in the optic disc and macula. METHODS: In 458 eyes with glaucoma, we determined confounding factors for intraocular pressure (IOP), central corneal thickness (CCT), axial length (AL), LSFG-measured ocular blood flow (OBF), which was assessed with laser speckle flowgraphy-measured mean blur rate in the tissue area (MT) of the optic nerve head, biological antioxidant potential (BAP), and systemic abnormalities in diastolic blood pressure (dBP). To compensate for measurement bias, we also analyzed corrected IOP (cIOP; corrected for CCT) and corrected MT (cMT; corrected for age, weighted retinal ganglion cell count, and AL). Then, we determined the distribution of these parameters in low-, middle-, and high-value subgroups and compared them with the Kruskal-Wallis test. Pairwise comparisons used the Steel-Dwass test. RESULTS: The high-cIOP subgroup had significantly worse mean deviation (MD), temporal, superior, and inferior loss of circumpapillary retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (cpRNFLT), and large cupping. The low-CCT subgroup had temporal cpRNFLT loss; the high-CCT subgroup had low cup volume. The high-AL subgroup had macular ganglion cell complex thickness (GCCT) loss; the low-AL subgroup had temporal cpRNFLT loss. The high-systemic-dBP subgroup had worse MD, total, superior, and inferior cpRNFLT loss and macular GCCT loss. The low-BAP subgroup had more male patients, higher dBP, and cpRNFLT loss in the 10 o'clock area. The high-OBF subgroup had higher total, superior and temporal cpRNFLT and macular GCCT. CONCLUSIONS: Structural changes and local susceptibility to glaucomatous damage show unique variations in patients with different risk factors, which might suggest that specific risk factors induce specific types of pathogenesis and corresponding glaucoma phenotypes. Our study may open new avenues for the development of precision medicine for glaucoma.

Association of Japanese cedar pollinosis and sensitization with HLA-DPB1 in the Japanese adolescent.

BACKGROUND: Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a heterogeneous disorder that significantly affects daily activity, work productivity, sleep, learning, and quality of life in all generations. Japanese cedar (JC) pollen is the most common allergen responsible for the development of AR in Japan. AR caused by JC pollen is considered to be a multifactorial inheritance disease that is caused by both environmental and genetic factors. The aim of this study was to investigate whether Human Leukocyte Antigen-DPB1 (HLA-DPB1) is associated with JC sensitization/pollinosis. METHODS: Subjects in the present study were 544 students at the University of Tsukuba from 2013 to 2015. PCR-SSOP was performed to determine each individual's HLA-DPB1 alleles. Logistic regression analysis was performed to examine relationships between JC-related phenotypes and alleles/amino acid polymorphisms of HLA-DPB1. RESULTS: HLA-DPB1*02 allele were significantly associated with both JC sensitization/pollinosis (q < 0.05). Furthermore, HLA-DPB1*02:01 and HLA-DPB1*02:02 had a protective tendency for JC sensitization/pollinosis, and HLA-DPB1*05:01 had a susceptible tendency for sensitization (P < 0.05). In amino acid polymorphism analyses, Glutamic acid in position 69, Glycine-Glycine-Proline-Methionine in positions 84-87, Threonine in position 170 and Methionine in position 205 were also observed to have a protective tendency for JC sensitization (P < 0.05). Amino acid positions 69 and 84-87 were located in binding pocket 5 and 1 of HLA-DPß1, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Amino acid changes in the allergen-binding pocket of HLA-DPß1 are likely to influence pollinosis/sensitization to the allergenic peptide of JC pollen and determine the pollinosis risk for each individual exposed to JC pollen.