- Wiggs, JL
- Yaspan, BL
- Hauser, MA
- Kang, JH
- Allingham, RR
- Olson, LM
- Abdrabou, W
- Fan, BJ
- Wang, DY
- Brodeur, W
- Budenz, DL
- Caprioli, J
- Crenshaw, A
- Crooks, K
- DelBono, E
- Doheny, KF
- Friedman, DS
- Gaasterland, D
- Gaasterland, T
- Laurie, C
- Lee, RK
- Lichter, PR
- Loomis, S
- Liu, Y
- Medeiros, FA
- McCarty, C
- Mirel, D
- Moroi, SE
- Musch, DC
- Realini, A
- Rozsa, FW
- Schuman, JS
- Scott, K
- Singh, K
- Stein, JD
- Trager, EH
- VanVeldhuisen, P
- Vollrath, D
- Wollstein, G
- Yoneyama, S
- Zhang, K
- Weinreb, RN
- Ernst, J
- Kellis, M
- Masuda, T
- Zack, D
- Richards, JE
- Pericak-Vance, M
- Pasquale, LR
- Haines, JL
- et al.
Optic nerve degeneration caused by glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness worldwide. Patients affected by the normal-pressure form of glaucoma are more likely to harbor risk alleles for glaucoma-related optic nerve disease. We have performed a meta-analysis of two independent genome-wide association studies for primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) followed by a normal-pressure glaucoma (NPG, defined by intraocular pressure (IOP) less than 22 mmHg) subgroup analysis. The single-nucleotide polymorphisms that showed the most significant associations were tested for association with a second form of glaucoma, exfoliation-syndrome glaucoma. The overall meta-analysis of the GLAUGEN and NEIGHBOR dataset results (3,146 cases and 3,487 controls) identified significant associations between two loci and POAG: the CDKN2BAS region on 9p21 (rs2157719 [G], OR = 0.69 [95%CI 0.63-0.75], p = 1.86×10-18), and the SIX1/SIX6 region on chromosome 14q23 (rs10483727 [A], OR = 1.32 [95%CI 1.21-1.43], p = 3.87×10-11). In sub-group analysis two loci were significantly associated with NPG: 9p21 containing the CDKN2BAS gene (rs2157719 [G], OR = 0.58 [95% CI 0.50-0.67], p = 1.17×10-12) and a probable regulatory region on 8q22 (rs284489 [G], OR = 0.62 [95% CI 0.53-0.72], p = 8.88×10-10). Both NPG loci were also nominally associated with a second type of glaucoma, exfoliation syndrome glaucoma (rs2157719 [G], OR = 0.59 [95% CI 0.41-0.87], p = 0.004 and rs284489 [G], OR = 0.76 [95% CI 0.54-1.06], p = 0.021), suggesting that these loci might contribute more generally to optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma. Because both loci influence transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta) signaling, we performed a genomic pathway analysis that showed an association between the TGF-beta pathway and NPG (permuted p = 0.009). These results suggest that neuro-protective therapies targeting TGF-beta signaling could be effective for multiple forms of glaucoma. © 2012 Wiggs et al.