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Glaucoma: ocular Alzheimer's disease?
McKinnon SJ.. Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library, 2003-09-01
Topic: Amyloid, tau and blood-test diagnosis
Glaucoma is a chronic neurodegeneration of the optic nerve and one of the leading causes of vision loss in the world among the aging. Retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) have been shown to die by apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Central to apoptosis is the activation of specific proteases, termed caspases. Caspases are activated in chronic neurodegenerations such as Alzheimer's disease (AD) as well as in RGCs after optic nerve transection. In rat glaucoma models we have shown that caspase-3, a major effector of the apoptotic cascade, is activated in RGCs and cleaves amyloid precursor protein (APP) to produce neurotoxic fragments that include amyloid-beta. Caspase-8, which initiates apoptosis after activation of receptors of the tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily, is also activated in RGCs. This suggests a new hypothesis for RGC death in glaucoma involving chronic amyloid-beta neurotoxicity, mimicking AD at the molecular level. With loss of the protective effect of APP and upregulation of toxic APP fragments, RGCs die from chronic caspase activation, loss of synaptic homeostasis, amyloid-beta cytotoxicity and excitotoxicity. The benefits are that treatments for AD could be used to treat glaucoma, and strategies developed to treat glaucoma could treat other neurodegenerations.
Cite this study APA, Vancouver, BibTeX · download .bib or .ris
APA 7th
McKinnon, S. J. (2003). Glaucoma: ocular Alzheimer's disease? Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library. https://doi.org/10.2741/1172
Vancouver
McKinnon SJ. Glaucoma: ocular Alzheimer's disease? Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library. 2003. doi:10.2741/1172. PMID: 12957857.
BibTeX
@article{mckinnon2003-12957857,
author = {McKinnon, S. J.},
title = {{Glaucoma: ocular Alzheimer's disease?}},
journal = {Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library},
year = {2003},
doi = {10.2741/1172},
pmid = {12957857},
url = {https://doi.org/10.2741/1172}
}
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Key findings
- In rat glaucoma models we have shown that caspase-3, a major effector of the apoptotic cascade, is activated in RGCs and cleaves amyloid precursor protein (APP) to produce neurotoxic fragments that include amyloid-beta.
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Study details
- Evidence strengthLow
How this study scored 36/100
Published in a peer-reviewed journal. Scored zero for study design, sample size, effect reported, studied in people and randomised / blinded because the record does not state it. We have no data on journal's citation record, times cited, citations per year, impact for its field and year, cited by studies here, still being cited, senior author's track record, institution's track record and multi-centre collaboration, so those were left out: it earned 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on, which is 36 out of 100.
| Component | Points | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Journal tier | 7 / 10 | Tier 3 — peer-reviewed journal (Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library) |
| Journal's citation record | — / 4 | No journal record from OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Study design | 0 / 12 | No study design recorded — scores zero, not guessed (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Strength of evidence | 1 / 5 | Rated “low” in our summary |
| Peer-review validation | 10 / 10 | Peer-reviewed. Published as an article in a named peer-reviewed journal. |
| How recent | 1 / 5 | 2003 — older than 20 years, still counted |
| Sample size | 0 / 4 | Participant count not stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Effect reported | 0 / 3 | No effect size reported — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Studied in people | 0 / 3 | Not stated whether this was studied in people — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Randomised / blinded | 0 / 2 | No randomisation or blinding stated — scores zero (not stated in the record — scored 0) |
| Times cited | — / 7 | No citation count (not found in OpenAlex) — left out of this score |
| Citations per year | — / 5 | No citation count or no year — left out of this score |
| Impact for its field and year | — / 6 | No field-weighted citation impact (OpenAlex has none yet) — left out of this score |
| Cited by studies here | — / 6 | Not yet checked against this library's citation graph — left out of this score |
| Still being cited | — / 4 | No yearly citation counts — left out of this score |
| Senior author's track record | — / 4 | Senior author's record not available — left out of this score |
| Institution's track record | — / 3 | No institution listed in OpenAlex — left out of this score |
| Multi-centre collaboration | — / 3 | Institutions not listed — left out of this score |
| Indexed in PubMed | 2 / 2 | Indexed in PubMed (PMID 12957857) |
| Free to read | 0 / 2 | Behind a paywall — scores zero |
| Points | 21 / 58 | Scored on 11 of 20 parts. We have no data for the rest, so they are left out: 21 of the 58 points we could judge it on is 36 out of 100. |
| Total | 36 / 100 | — |
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