NEI Director Michael F. Chiang featured recent research by NEI grantee Louis Pasquale, Mount Sinai, in an NIH Director’s Blog post. Pasquale, in collaboration with Jae Hee Kang and Oana Zeleznik of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, explored 369 blood metabolites in relation to glaucoma in a large study of human data. They found a strong association between glaucoma and two classes of lipids (fats). Patients with elevated triglycerides and diglycerides were more likely to develop glaucoma, and the association was strongest in a subtype of glaucoma that causes early loss of central vision. Their work adds to a growing body of evidence that links health status to metabolism.
NEI Director Michael F. Chiang, M.D.; Louis Pasquale, M.D., deputy chair for ophthalmology research, Mount Sinai; and Jae H. Kang, Sc.D., assistant professor of medicine, and Oana A. Zeleznik, Ph.D., instructor, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard University.