The study was published in Aging Cell and conducted by Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Ph.D., and her associates. The research digs into the transcriptional and epigenetic modifications that take place in the aging retina and how stress, such as increased intraocular pressure, can cause the retina to go through similar changes to natural aging. The research study shows that recurring stress in young retinal tissue can lead to accelerated aging.
“We are continuing to work to comprehend the system of accumulative changes in aging in order to find prospective targets for therapies. We are also evaluating various techniques to prevent the sped up aging procedure resulting from tension.”
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that can cause damage to the optic nerve and lead to vision loss. It is frequently caused by an increase in pressure within the eye, which can damage the nerve fibers of the optic nerve.
Stress-induced retinal aging produces symptoms comparable to those that take place naturally with aging.
New research from the University of California, Irvine, shows that aging plays a substantial role in the death of retinal ganglion cells in glaucoma which new treatment approaches for glaucoma patients can target these unique pathways.
The research study was released in Aging Cell and conducted by Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, Ph.D., and her coworkers. The research looks into the epigenetic and transcriptional changes that occur in the aging retina and how stress, such as increased intraocular pressure, can cause the retina to undergo comparable changes to natural aging. The research study shows that repetitive tension in young retinal tissue can lead to sped up aging.
Aging is a universal process that affects all cells in an organism. In the eye, it is a significant threat aspect for a group of neuropathies called glaucoma. Existing estimates show that the number of individuals with glaucoma (aged 40-80) will increase to over 110 million in 2040 since of the boost in aging populations worldwide.
When the UCI-led team examined the optic nerve head of eyes treated with mild pressure elevation, they noted that in the young optic nerve head, there was no indication of loss of axons. In the optic nerves of old animals, significant sectorial loss of axons was observed similar to the phenotype typically observed in glaucoma patients. Credit: UCI School of Medicine
” Our work stresses the value of early diagnosis and prevention as well as age-specific management of age-related illness, consisting of glaucoma,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk. “The epigenetic modifications we observed recommend that changes on the chromatin level are acquired in an accumulative way, following a number of instances of tension. This supplies us with a window of chance for the avoidance of vision loss, if and when the illness is acknowledged early.”
Due to IOP variations, a single IOP measurement is often inadequate to identify the genuine pathology and threat of disease development in glaucoma patients. This new research study recommends that the cumulative impact of the variations of IOP is directly accountable for the aging of the tissue.
” Our work reveals that even moderate hydrostatic IOP elevation leads to retinal ganglion cell loss and matching visual flaws when performed on aged animals,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk. “We are continuing to work to comprehend the system of accumulative changes in aging in order to discover prospective targets for therapeutics. We are likewise checking different approaches to avoid the accelerated aging process resulting from stress.”
Scientists now have a new tool to estimate the effect of tension and treatment on the aging status of retinal tissue, which has actually made these brand-new discoveries possible. In collaboration with the Clock Foundation and Steve Horvath, Ph.D., from Altos Labs, who originated the development of epigenetic clocks that can determine age based upon methylation modifications in the DNA of tissues, it was possible for scientists to reveal that repetitive, mild IOP elevation can accelerate epigenetic age of the tissues.
” In addition to determining vision decline and some structural modifications due to tension and prospective treatment, we can now determine the epigenetic age of retinal tissue and use it to discover the optimal strategy to avoid vision loss in aging,” said Skowronska-Krawczyk.
Reference: “Stress caused aging in mouse eye” by Qianlan Xu, Cezary Rydz, Viet Anh Nguyen Huu, Lorena Rocha, Claudia Palomino La Torre, Irene Lee, William Cho, Mary Jabari, John Donello, David C. Lyon, Robert T. Brooke, Steve Horvath, Robert N. Weinreb, Won-Kyu Ju, Andrzej Foik and Dorota Skowronska-Krawczyk, 17 November 2022, Aging Cell.DOI: 10.1111/ acel.13737.
The research study was moneyed by the National Institutes of Health, the Foundation for Polish Science, and the European Union under the European Regional Development Fund. Authors wish to acknowledge the assistance of the Research to Prevent Blindness Foundation for the Department of Ophthalmology at UCI.