Chief Supervisor

Prof. Henry CHAN

Project Title

Synopsis

Although high Intraocular pressure (IOP) is an important risk factor for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG), it is absent in patients suffering from normal-tension glaucoma (NTG), which is one of the sub-types of POAG. The glaucomatous changes despite normal IOP in NTG patients indicate that IOP-independent pathways are also involved in the pathogenesis of glaucoma. Growing evidences show that vascular risk factors (e.g. systemic hypertension,) may play an important role in glaucoma pathogenesis.  Furthermore, different epidemiological studies have reported that low ocular perfusion pressure (OPP), which is the pressure gradient between arterial input and IOP, is an independent risk factor for POAG. This finding from a large number of population-based studies has highlighted the importance of OPP in glaucoma pathogenesis. Hence, the aim of this study is to investigate how different levels of OPP affect the retinal physiological responses under flicker-induced retinal neurovascular coupling condition due to retinal vascular autoregulation in mice. The findings of this study may help to further understand the pathogenesis of glaucoma, especially the condition of NTG.