T. Kubota et al., DISTRIBUTION OF PROTEOGLYCANS IN THE TRABECULAR TISSUE OF EYES WITH NEOVASCULAR GLAUCOMA, German journal of ophthalmology, 5(6), 1997, pp. 392-398
We investigated histochemically the composition and distribution of pr
oteoglycans in the trabecular tissue of eyes with neovascular glaucoma
. Cupromeronic blue in combination with a series of enzyme digestions
and nitrous acid treatment were used. The spaces between the trabecula
r beams were lined by a single layer of vascular endothelium and were
filled with red blood cells. A basal lamina and microfibrils were dete
cted just beneath the newly formed vascular endothelial cells. Chondro
itin-sulfate- and dermatan-sulfate-type proteoglycans were present in
association with collagen fibrils in the extracellular matrix. Heparan
-sulfate-type proteoglycans were present in association with the basal
lamina of both the vascular endothelial cells and the trabecular cell
s. Ht is unlikely that these abnormalities in the type or distribution
of proteoglycans in the trabecular meshwork have a major role in the
pathogenesis of glaucoma.