Biochemical method for predicting the risk of progression of glaucoma optic neuropathy
Egorov E.A., Alekseev V.N., Gazizova I.R., Martynova E.B.

Russian National Research Medical University named after N.I. Pirogov, Moscow
North-West State Medical University named after I.I. Mechnikov, St. Petersburg

The violation of oxidation-reduction processes and tissue respiration in patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is indicated by an increase in the level of lactate in the blood of patients. The above violations of the processes of tissue respiration occur when the function of mitochondria, as the basic energy unit of the cell, is disturbed. Mitochondrial dysfunction is one of the main links in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, to which, in recent years, POAG has also been classified. 
We have developed an available and cheap biochemical method for determining the risk of progression of glaucoma optic neuropathy (GON), based on the first established relationship between the level of lactate in the blood of patients with primary POAG and progression of GON. Quantitative values of the lactate level were selected during the study: the main group included 15 patients diagnosed with POAG; in the control group there were 10 people of the same age with a diagnosis of age-related cataract. Normal levels of lactate in the blood are 1.33-1.80 mmol / l. In patients of the control group, the level of lactate in the blood averaged 2.78 ± 0.15 mmol / l, and in patients in the main group - 4.33 mmol / l. If the lactate level is above 4.33 mmol / l, the risk of GON progression is predicted within 1 year after the examination.

Key words: primary open-angle glaucoma, progression of glaucoma optic neuropathy, lactate, mitochondrial dysfunction, redox reactions.
For citation: Egorov E.A., Alekseev V.N., Gazizova I.R., Martynova E.B. Biochemical method for predicting the risk of progression of glaucoma optic neuropathy // RMJ. Clinical ophthalmology. 2017. № 2. P. 65–67.