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Acute glaucoma in mice is largely an inflammatory disease, new research shows. According to the research, high pressure in the eye causes vision loss by setting in motion an inflammatory response similar to that evoked by bacterial infections. 

"Our research is the first to show an inflammatory mechanism by which high ocular pressure causes vision loss in acute glaucoma patients," said co-senior author Kang Zhang, MD, PhD and professor of ophthalmology, in the press release. 

Researchers also showed that a rapid sustained large increase in eye pressure in mice turns on a gene, TLR4, which then activates a protein known as caspase-8. 

"This immune response is a double-edge sword because, while these proteins protect us from infection in a normal situation, they stimulate apoptosis (programmed cell death) in retinal cells in cases of acute glaucoma," said Zhang, who is also a staff physician at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System.

Researchers to further strengthen their findings, also showed that they could slow retinal cell death in mice with acute glaucoma by suppressing either the TLR4 gene or caspace-8 protein.  

"By injecting these inhibitors into the eyes of acute glaucoma patients, it may be possible to evaluate and bring them vision-sparing treatments more quickly," added co-author Robert N. Weinreb, MD, chairman and Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology, in the press release.

The study has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.