Background: To investigate the levels of nitric oxide (NO) markers in plasma and aqueous humour of patients with primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) and their relation to ocular perfusion pressure.
Methods: Cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) and nitrite (NO(2)(-)) were determined in plasma and aqueous humour of 38 patients with POAG and 46 controls. Blood pressure and IOP were measured to calculate ocular perfusion pressure (PP).
Results: cGMP and NO(2)(-) plasma levels were significantly decreased in glaucoma patients compared with controls (p = 0.001 v p = 0.004). In the aqueous humour of subjects with POAG, cGMP and NO(2)(-) concentrations were also lower than in normal eyes (p = 0.0001 v p = 0.001). There was a linear association between cGMP in plasma and aqueous humour in glaucomas and controls (r = 0.514, p = 0.029 and r = 0.558, p = 0.004) and this relation differed in the two groups (p = 0.003). Considering glaucoma patients with controls, a positive correlation was found between cGMP and PP (r = 0.379, p = 0.01) and between NO(2)(-) and PP (r = 0.339, p = 0.040). The cGMP/PP correlation was of borderline statistical significance in controls (p = 0.050), whereas it did not attain statistical significance in POAG, as well as the association between NO(2)(-) and PP when glaucomas and controls were considered separately.
Conclusions: The authors found alterations of NO markers in the plasma and aqueous humour of glaucoma patients. Primary or secondary impaired NO balance could alter ocular perfusion pressure.