Association Between Heart Rate Variability and Systemic Endothelin-1 Concentration in Normal-tension Glaucoma

Abstract

After excluding patients with systemic diseases, the plasma ET-1 level was associated with HRV parameters in patients with NTG. These observations suggest that the relationship between autonomic dysfunction and autoregulation may play a role in the pathogenesis of NTG.

Autoregulation of optic nerve head blood flow and its role in open-angle glaucoma

“…The exact mechanism of autoregulation of blood flow at the ONH is not known, and several different mechanisms of autoregulation have been hypothesized, including myogenic [89][90][91], metabolic [92][93][94][95][96], endothelial [97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105], neurogenic [106] and humoral [107][108][109][110][111]. These mechanisms are not mutually exclusive and may work in tandem to regulate ONH blood flow.…”

The Association of Nailfold Capillaroscopy with Systemic Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 Concentration in Normal-Tension Glaucoma

“…47 Similar to our previous study of ET-1, we investigated a possible correlation between HRV parameters and MMP-9. 21 However, we found no correlation of MMP-9 levels with HRV parameters in NTG patients, unlike for ET-1. These findings probably result from the differences between ET-1 and MMP-9.…”

“…Our previous study demonstrated an increased ET-1 concentration and a correlation of ET-1 levels with HRV parameters in NTG patients. 21,22 In addition, ET-1 and MMP-9 are most probably among several proteins involved in the ODH pathogenesis. 38 Both ET-1 and MMP-9 are thought to be important proteins in the tissue surrounding the retinal vessels involved in the development of glaucoma.…”

“…[17][18][19] We used short-term HRV analysis previously to demonstrate autonomic dysfunction in NTG patients 20 and that the plasma endothelin-1 (ET-1) level was associated with HRV parameters in these patients. 21 Although we showed in a previous study that there was no significant difference in the systemic MMP-9 concentration between NTG patients and normal controls, any possible relationship between the MMP-9 level and other characteristics of NTG patients, including ODH, required elucidation. 22 In the present study, we evaluated MMP-9 concentration, nailfold capillaroscopy, HRV, and clinical characteristics of glaucoma in NTG patients without systemic diseases, and analyzed the associations among these values.…”

Involvement of Endothelin-1 in the Pathophysiology of Normal-Tension Glaucoma

“…However, Chen et al found no correlation between plasma levels of ET-1 and the severity of glaucoma [20] . On the other hand, Lee et al indicated that plasma ET-1 levels were associated with heart rate variability in NTG patients, suggesting that the relationship between autonomic dysfunction and autoregulation might play a role in the pathogenesis of NTG [21] .…”