Abstract
Presentation Description :
The greatly increased risk of cataract development in the elderly compared to the young was recognized in antiquity and was first rigorously documented in a large patient cohort by Edward Jackson in 1898. The biochemical, metabolic, and structural changes that the lens undergoes with aging have been studied since the mid-twentieth century leading to an understanding of how environmental insults, intrinsic chemical reactions of lens components, and the lens’ ability to compensate for and/or detoxify them, contributes to age-related cataract. However, genetically determined aging mechanisms likely also contribute as even short lived mammals develop cataracts late in their lifespan. Nearly 100 years later, epidemiological studies revealed that fewer women than men developed pre-senile cataract, while this incidence flipped later in life with elderly women more likely to develop cataract than similarly aged men. While estrogen has been suggested to be protective against cataract in pre-menopausal women, the mechanisms underlying the increased incidence of cataract in postmenopausal women is still obscure. This presentation will review what is known about the mechanisms of age related cataract and put this into the context of recent studies revealing how aging impacts the lens transcriptome of mice and humans. Sex specific differences in lens aging in mice will also be discussed in the context of sex specific differences in the prevalence of age related cataract.
This abstract was presented at the 2023 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in New Orleans, LA, April 23-27, 2023.