Purpose: To evaluate cathepsin A activity in the vitreous body of patients with absolute glaucoma and intraocular tumors.
Material and methods: The studies were performed on human vitreous body taken from eye balls which were enucleated because of absolute glaucoma (18 eyes) and intraocular tumors (14 eyes). Cathepsin A activity was determined by the ninhydrin method with synthetic substrate (N-Cbz-Phe-Ala) at its optimum pH 5.0.
Results: Cathepsin A activity in the human vitreous body in absolute glaucoma was twice as high as in intraocular tumors.
Conclusion: Our results suggest that cathepsin A may participate in the pathogenesis of absolute glaucoma and that proteolysis may play a significant role in local destruction of the retina and the optic nerve.