Search

Najwa Al-Dabbagh,1 Hamoud Al-Shahrani,1 Nourah Al-Dohayan,1 Md Mustafa,2 Misbahul Arfin,2 Abdulrahman K Al-Asmari2 1Department of Ophthalmology, 2Research Center, Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia Abstract: Primary glaucomas are among the most common eye diseases that may potentially result in bilateral blindness. Both genetics and environmental factors are reported to be involved in the etiology of primary glaucomas. Secreted protein acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC)-related modular calcium binding protein 2 (SMOC2) is a matricellular glycoprotein encoded by the SMOC2 gene and known to regulate the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM) proteins and matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), which play an important role in the pathogenesis of primary glaucomas. The frequencies of alleles and genotypes of SMOC2 variants were examined in 406 Saudi subjects, including primary open angle glaucoma (POAG, n=140) and primary angle closure glaucoma (PACG, n=64) patients and 202 matched healthy controls using the polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) technique. Genotyping of SMOC2 polymorphism (rs13208776) revealed a significantly higher frequency of the heterozygous genotype GA (PA) polymorphism is significantly associated with PACG and may be a risk factor. However, further large-scale studies in the Saudi population as well as in other ethnic populations are needed to confirm this association. Keywords: glaucoma, SMOC2, polymorphism, genotyping, genetics, Saudi