Work

Effects of Aging and Early-Onset Menopause on Intraocular Pressure and Aqueous Humor Conventional Outflow Facility

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: Biomechanical parameters play a crucial role in glaucoma development, the world-leading cause of irreversible blindness. Although age is known to affect the tissues' biomechanical properties, early-onset menopause has recently been associated with the risk of developing glaucoma, and the effects of aging relative to early-onset menopause on eyes' biomechanical parameters remain underexplored. This work's goals were to study the effects of aging and early-onset menopause on intraocular pressure (IOP), aqueous humor outflow facility, and ocular compliance. Female Brown Norway rats underwent Sham or surgical menopause (ovariectomy; OVX) at 3-4 months of age and were split into young (5-6 months) or middle-aged groups (9-10 months). We monitored IOP until the established aging time points and performed ex vivo biomechanical measurements via the iPerfusion system. IOP was higher for the middle-aged Sham and OVX animals by 25% and 35%, respectively (p < 0.001), when compared to their respective initial IOPs. Furthermore, middle-aged OVX animals had an 11% higher IOP compared to Sham animals (p = 0.005), and a 20% lower outflow facility (p = 0.031). Ocular compliance decreased with age in the Sham (24.9%, p = 0.011) and OVX (24.5%, p = 0.005) cohorts and by 24.1% independent of cohort (p = 0.0001). Elucidating the effects of age and early-onset menopause on biomechanical parameters that contribute to glaucoma pathology is necessary to move the field forward and help preserve the eyesight of millions of patients.

Source: Journal of Biomechanical Engineering

DOI: 10.1115/1.4072763

Authors: Nina Sara Fraticelli-Guzmán, Dennis Jiang, Beam Yongphiphatwong, Joseph van Batenburg-Sherwood, Andrew J. Feola, Wallace H. Coulter