Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. While we know that increased eye pressure is a risk factor for glaucoma, recent evidence also indicates differences between eye pressure and the pressure in the brain may also be a risk factor. The research described in this application is aimed at investigating how centers within the brain control eye pressure and will support the goal of identifying new treatment options for patients with glaucoma. The orexin neurotransmitter system, with one prepro-peptide generating two neurotransmitter forms, and two separate orexin receptor genes, may have a role in intraocular pressure (IOP) regulation and we aim to study variability in those genes. Orexin receptor antagonists are taken worldwide for insomnia and the discovery proposed here could warrant addition of a new data field reporting prescribed use of orexin receptor antagonists. The analysis of this dataset is expected to require 2 years working with co-investigators in genomics and statistical analysis.
