John F. Bigger

In Vitro Corticosteroid: Correlation Response With Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma and Ocular Corticosteroid Sensitivity

The transformation of human peripheral blood lymphocytes can be inhibited by corticosteroid compounds. In an in vitro study of 100 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma and various degrees of ocular pressure responsiveness to corticosteroid testing, varying degrees of sensitivity to corticosteroid compounds existed systemically in the circulating lymphocyte. A high correlation exists between the level of corticosteroid sensitivity in the lymphocyte and in the eye. In vitro cellular systems may be useful in evaluating the molecular basis of the variability in corticosteroid response, and in understanding the pathogenesis of corticosteroid-induced ocular hypertension and primary open-angle glaucoma.

Comparison of in Vitro Corticosteroid Response in Pigmentary Glaucoma and Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma

We used an in vitro assay utilizing corticosteroids to inhibit transformation of peripheral blood lymphocytes to evaluate a group of 20 patients with pigmentary glaucoma. The pigmentary glaucoma patient group did not manifest the markedly increased cellular sensitivity to corticosteroids associated with primary open-angle glaucoma. If increased sensitivity to corticosteroids plays an essential role in the pathogenesis of primary open-angle glaucoma, then pigmentary glaucoma appears to be etiologically, as well as clinically, a separate entity.