The thinning of cornea, a transparent outer covering of the eye, could be an alarm for the risk of blindness, a research has found.
A major genetic eye disease research project led by Australian researchers has recognized a family of genes related to collagen that has an influence on corneal thickness.
According to David Mackey, professor and head of opthalmology at University of Western Australia (UWA), the finding was important because a thin cornea was one of the risk factors for keratoconus as well as glaucoma, the second major reason of blindness overall in Australia, the journal Nature Genetics has reported.
Keratoconus is a condition in which the central zone of the cornea becomes thin, causing the normally round shaped cornea to become distorted and development of a cone-like bulge that leads to significant visual impairment, an UWA statement says.
"Keratoconus is a leading cause of severe visual impairment in young adults and the main indication for corneal transplant in most developed countries, including Australia. A combination of these gene variants can result in a person having a thinner cornea and much greater risk of developing eye diseases," Mackey has been reported saying.
Mackey has said previously that some genes responsible for corneal thickness variation has been identified in smaller studies for the study the data was collected from 20,000 people in Australia, Europe, North America and Asia in the largest analysis to date.
"These findings allow researchers to now target specific gene pathways involving collagen to help prevent and treat keratoconus and glaucoma," Mackey has been quoted as saying.
--with inputs from IANS
|
|
Comments:
