📖 ABSTRACT/OVERVIEW
The molecular mechanisms underlying primary open-angle glaucoma in Africans remain incompletely understood, and proteomic analysis of aqueous humour offers a minimally invasive approach to identifying biomarkers of pathological trabecular dysfunction and optic nerve vulnerability in Nigerian patients. This study conducts proteomic analysis of aqueous humour samples from Nigerian patients with POAG to identify novel disease biomarkers with diagnostic and therapeutic implications. A case-control laboratory study will be conducted at Lagos University Teaching Hospital. Aqueous humour samples of 0.1 mL will be aspirated at the time of cataract or glaucoma surgery from 60 POAG patients and 40 age-matched controls undergoing cataract surgery without glaucoma. Samples will be subjected to quantitative proteomics using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Bioinformatics analysis will identify differentially expressed proteins, gene ontology enrichment, and protein interaction network analysis. Candidate biomarkers will be validated using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay in an independent replication cohort of 100 POAG cases and 80 controls. Aqueous humour proteomics in POAG has identified matrix metalloproteinases, heat shock proteins, and complement cascade proteins as candidate biomarkers in European and Asian cohorts, but no study has examined this in West African POAG patients. Given documented differences in disease phenotype and genetics, population-specific biomarker signatures may exist. This study generates foundational molecular data for Nigerian POAG, contributing to global glaucoma biomarker science and informing future drug target identification. Recommendations will address investment in ophthalmic molecular biology infrastructure at Nigerian teaching hospitals and biobank establishment. Keywords: proteomics, aqueous humour, glaucoma biomarkers, mass spectrometry, Nigerian patients
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