Scientists
in Singapore have identified genes for central corneal thickness that may cause
potentially blinding eye conditions such as glaucoma.
Scientists in Singapore have
identified genes for central corneal thickness (CCT) that may cause potentially
blinding eye conditions such as glaucoma.
The multi-center study, led by
researchers at the Singapore Eye Research Institute (SERI) and the Agency for
Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) Genome Institute of Singapore (GIS),
involved 55 hospitals and research centers around the world, and more than
20,000 individuals of European and Asian descent.
Their findings were published
this month in the journal Nature Genetics.
CCT is associated with potentially
blinding eye conditions such as keratoconus, a condition where the cornea
progressively thins and takes on a more conical shape that may eventually
require transplantation. CCT has an estimated heritability up to 95 percent and
may determine the severity of one’s glaucoma and assist eye doctors in
identifying patients with high risk for progression. CCT is also one of the
leading causes of corneal transplantation worldwide.
Prior to this study, the
Singapore team had identified six distinct CCT-associated loci via samples from
Singaporean Chinese, Indians, and Malays, as well as Beijing Chinese.
However, none of these loci was
found to be associated with common eye diseases like this study has now shown.
Overall, this new study identified a total of 27 associated loci, including six
for keratoconus.
“Yet again, this paper
underscores the power of modern genetic approaches studied in very large sample
sizes in revealing the hereditable basis of normal human traits, and how the
extremes of which may give rise to common diseases,” said Assistant Professor
Khor Chiea Chuen, Principal Investigator, Division of Human Genetics at GIS,
who was the co-lead author on this study.
The article can be found
at: Lu Y et al. (2013) Genome-wide
association analyses identify multiple loci associated with central corneal
thickness and keratoconus.
Source: A*STAR;
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