New genetic test identifies people at up to 10 times higher glaucoma risk-Xinhua - 新华网

SYDNEY, Nov. 13 (Xinhua) -- Researchers in Australia have developed a genetic test that can identify people at up to 10 times the normal risk of developing open-angle glaucoma, the most common form of the disease and the world's leading cause of irreversible blindness.

The findings suggest the test could help doctors identify high-risk individuals for closer monitoring and earlier treatment, potentially preventing irreversible vision loss, while reducing unnecessary testing for those at lower risk, according to a statement released Friday by Australia's QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.

Developed by researchers at QIMR Berghofer and Flinders University in Australia with international collaborators, the test uses genetic data from more than 6 million people, including nearly 300,000 glaucoma patients, to calculate a person's inherited risk.

In Australians of European ancestry, those in the highest 10 percent of genetic risk were 10 times more likely to have glaucoma than the rest of the population, compared with a four-fold increase identified by an earlier version of the test published in 2020, which was based on about 8,000 glaucoma cases.

The study, published in the journal Ophthalmology, also found that people in the highest 10 percent of genetic risk developed glaucoma about 25 years earlier, on average, than those in the lowest 10 percent.

The test also identified patients more likely to require intensified treatment, have affected family members, and added substantial predictive value beyond eye pressure measurements, the most commonly assessed glaucoma risk factor, the researchers said. ■