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CD163+ macrophages infiltrate axon bundles of postmortem optic nerves with glaucoma

  • Pathology
  • Published:
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Abstract

Purpose

Prior research in animal models has shown that macrophages and microglia play an important role in pathogenesis of glaucoma, but the phenotype and distribution of macrophages in human glaucomatous tissue have not been sufficiently characterized.

Methods

We analyzed H&E, CD68-, and CD163-immunostained slides from 25 formaldehyde-fixed, paraffin-embedded autopsy eyes: 12 control eyes and 13 eyes with glaucoma. The diagnosis of glaucoma was made based on a history of glaucoma as reported in the medical record and histological changes characteristic of glaucoma. Glaucoma cases and controls were matched in terms of age, sex, and race.

Results

Qualitative analysis of the conventional outflow pathway and the optic nerve revealed that all eyes contained CD163+ cells but a negligible number of CD68+ cells. CD163+ macrophages infiltrated the trabecular meshwork and surrounded Schlemm’s canal of normal eyes and eyes with glaucoma, but the pattern was variable and qualitatively similar between groups. In optic nerves of control eyes, CD163+ macrophages were present at low levels and restricted to septa between axon bundles. In glaucomatous optic nerves, the number of CD163+ cells was increased both qualitatively and quantitatively (glaucoma 5.1 ± 0.6 CD163+ cells/mm2, control 2.5 ± 0.3 CD163+ cells/mm2, p < 0.001), with CD163+ cells infiltrating axon bundles in cases of both mild and severe diseases.

Conclusions

The increase in CD163+ cell number in eyes with mild and severe glaucoma is the first demonstration of macrophage infiltration in glaucomatous human optic nerves. This finding supports a role for macrophages in glaucoma pathogenesis and progression.

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Funding

NIH/NEI provided financial support in the form of salary/research support [NIH/NEI K12 EY016335 (MAM); NIH/NEI K23-EY026988 (EML)]. The sponsors had no role in the design or conduct of this research.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, 243 Charles Street, Boston, MA, 02114, USA

    Milica A. Margeta

  2. Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Eleonora M. Lad & Alan D. Proia

  3. Department of Pathology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC, USA

    Alan D. Proia

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  1. Milica A. Margeta
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Correspondence to Milica A. Margeta.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee at Duke and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards. For this type of study formal consent is not required.

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Margeta, M.A., Lad, E.M. & Proia, A.D. CD163+ macrophages infiltrate axon bundles of postmortem optic nerves with glaucoma. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 256, 2449–2456 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4081-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-018-4081-y

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