Long-term molecular embedding of early life adversity: leukocyte DNA methylation and gene expression associations from childhood to young adulthood.

Open angle glaucoma (OAG) is a progressive optic neuropathy leading to irreversible vision loss and represents a leading cause of blindness worldwide. The mainstay of glaucoma treatment is intraocular pressure (IOP) reduction, which effectively slows progressive glaucomatous optic nerve damage and prevents blindness. Early in its course, OAG remains asymptomatic and can progress without patients detecting vision changes. Therefore, identifying effective approaches for early OAG detection is critical to prevent avoidable vision loss and blindness. Understanding the disease in specific populations and associated risk factors can guide targeted detection and management strategies. Chinese Americans represent part of the fastest growing minority population in the United States over the past decade. Due to the high prevalence of myopia in Chinese Americans, this population may experience a disproportionately higher burden of myopia-related diseases, including myopic macular degeneration, retinal detachment, cataract, and open angle glaucoma. A recent meta-analysis of 14 population-based studies demonstrated a significant association between even mild myopia (> −3 D) and OAG, with this association strengthening for moderate to high myopia (≤ −3 D). Some studies have also demonstrated an association between progressive glaucomatous visual field loss and myopia. However, additional research is needed to understand the burden and characteristics of glaucoma in populations with high myopia prevalence such as Chinese Americans. While several epidemiological studies have examined OAG in urban and rural Asia-based populations of Chinese descent, no comparable data exist for persons of Chinese descent residing in the US. The Chinese American Eye Study (CHES) represents the first such investigation conducted in the US. We recently reported on the prevalence of primary angle closure suspects, primary angle closure, and primary angle closure glaucoma (8.1%, 3.1%, 1.1%, respectively), in this population. The current study provides the opportunity to determine OAG prevalence and identify associated risk factors in this specific US population.