Apoptotic effects of topical antiglaucoma medications on conjunctival epithelium in glaucoma patients

Purpose: In this study, we aimed to investigate the apoptotic effects of topical antiglaucoma medications on the conjunctival epithelium. Methods: A total of 65 patients were included in the study. Thirty patients were included in the first group who had received antiglaucomatous therapy before trabeculectomy. In the second group, 20 patients who had received no drugs before trabeculectomy were included, while the third group underwent only cataract surgery as control. During the surgery, 2 x 4 mm conjunctival samples were harvested from the upper bulbar conjunctiva. The mean apoptosis rate was calculated by determining apoptosis at conjunctival epithelium using the terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) method. Results: The mean apoptosis rate was 0.537 +/- 0.369 (0.026 +/- 0.962) in group 1, 0.139 +/- 0.162 (0.005 +/- 0.676) in group 2, and 0.078 +/- 0.035 (0.035 +/- 0.142) in the control group (group 3). The mean apoptosis rate was significantly higher in the first group than the other 2 groups (p = 0.0001). Conclusions: Apoptotic effects of topical antiglaucoma drugs on the conjunctival epithelial cells were found. However, our results revealed that the number of medications, duration of medication, and type of glaucoma had no effect on the apoptotic effect.