Aims: To investigate the association between the rs1900004 polymorphism in the atonal bHLH transcription factor 7 (ATOH7) gene and primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) in Saudi patients.
Methods: Eighty-seven unrelated POAG cases and 94 unrelated control subjects of Saudi origin were genotyped utilizing a TaqMan® assay. The association between mutant genotypes and POAG and its related clinical indices was investigated.
Results: The genotype and allele frequencies of the polymorphism in ATOH7 did not show any statistically significant association with POAG compared to controls. The minor allele frequency was 0.32 in both cases and controls. None of the demographic, systemic diseases nor glaucoma-specific clinical indices such as intraocular pressure (IOP), cup/disc ratio, and number of antiglaucoma medication, showed any significant association with genotypes. Binary logistic regression analysis (adjusted for age and gender) showed that age was a marginally significant risk factor for the development of glaucoma (adjusted odds ratio = 1.1; 95% confidence interval = 1.079-1.158; p < 0.0001).
Conclusions: The study did not detect any direct link between genotype/allele frequency of rs1900004 in ATOH7 and POAG or its related clinical indices such as IOP and cup/disc ratio indicating that this polymorphism is not a risk factor for POAG in a Saudi cohort.
Keywords: ATOH7; Saudi Arabia; primary open angle glaucoma; rs1900004.