Abstract
The role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of pterygium is still unclear. However, abnormal thiol disulfide homeostasis levels are involved in the pathogenesis of various systemic or ocular diseases. We aim to analyze dynamic thiol disulphide homeostasis in patients suffering from conjunctival pterygium using a contemporary technique. Thirty-eight subjects suffering from pterygium and 35 age-gender matched healthy volunteers were recruited for the study. For each case, total thiol, disulfide and native thiol levels in blood were obtained. Additionally, the ratio of disulfide over total thiol, native thiol over total thiol and disulfide over native thiol were computed. The level of median native thiol was lower in pterygium group (318.2µmol/L vs. 333.4µmol/L) and median disulfide was slightly higher in pterygium group (24.3µmol/L vs. 22.8µmol/L) compared to control group. Both disulfide over total thiol and disulfide over native thiol ratios were higher in pterygium group, ratio of native thiol over total thiol was found to be higher in control group. Nevertheless, none of those differences were statistically significant at 95% confidence level. Notably, correlation test pointed to a negative correlation both between pterygium grade and native thiol and between total thiol and pterygium grade in pterygium group (P = 0.03 and 0.02, respectively). A negative correlation hinting that slightly weakened dynamic thiol disulphide homeostasis in subjects with pterygium, a local ocular disease. Further studies with larger sample sizes may shed light on this potential relationship and justify systemic antioxidant therapies in these cases.
Highlights
Conjunctival pterygium (CP) is a degenerative condition characterized by a slightly elevated, triangular shaped conjunctival overgrowth extended to cornea [1]
The level of median native thiol was lower in pterygium group (318.2 μmol /L vs 333.4 μmol /L) and median disulfide was slightly higher in pterygium group (24.3 μmol /L vs 22.8 μmol /L) compared to control group
Both disulfide over total thiol and disulfide over native thiol ratios were higher in pterygium group, ratio of native thiol over total thiol was found to be higher in control group
Summary
Conjunctival pterygium (CP) (aka Surfer’s eye) is a degenerative condition characterized by a slightly elevated, triangular shaped conjunctival overgrowth extended to cornea [1]. Many theories investigating its pathogenesis showed that CP is a condition stemmed by many triggers among which ultraviolet radiation (UV) the most important one. UV irradiation relays its toxic impacts either directly by UV phototoxicity or indirectly by formation of primary molecules causing oxidative damage (aka reactive oxygen species or ROS). Imbalance between growth factors and cytokines, changes in tear film, viral infections, genetic mutations, immunologic disturbances and chronic inflammation are believed to be the important factors [2]. Pterygium is usually observed to be asymptomatic in the beginning, if it grows over the pupillary axis or induces astigmatism causing chronic ocular irritation, cosmetic imparity or visual disturbance, surgical intervention becomes inevitable. The major problem with pterygium surgery is the repeated surgeries due to high recurrence rates [3]
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