Cataract, Age-Related Nuclear

Nuclear sclerosis of the lens differs from cortical (see 609026) and subcapsular opacities in that there is no enlargement of intercellular spaces or breakdown of cell membranes. This form of noncongenital cataract is strongly associated with increasing age. Heiba et al. (1993) analyzed the familial distribution of age-related nuclear sclerosis of the lens to detect a possible role of a major gene in sibships in the Beaver Dam Eye Study. Included in the analysis were 1,247 people, aged 43 to 84 years, from 564 sibships with at least 2 affected members in each sibship. There were significant sib correlations for all sibs, and separately for sister-sister, sister-brother, and brother-brother pairs. Segregation analysis excluded the hypothesis of a random environmental major effect. Comparing different models, Heiba et al. (1993) concluded that a single recessive gene can account for 35% of the total variability.

Klein et al. (2006) found that 2 serum markers of systemic inflammation and vascular endothelial dysfunction, interleukin-6 (147620) and intracellular adhesion molecule-1 (147840), were significantly associated with age-related nuclear cataract but not with cortical or posterior subcapsular cataract.

In the Beaver Dam Eye Study population, Klein et al. (2006) found that statin use appeared to be associated with a lower risk of age-related nuclear cataract. Tan et al. (2007) studied the association of statin use with long-term incident cataract in the Blue Mountains Eye Study cohort. After controlling for age, gender, and other factors, statin use was found to reduce by 50% the risk of cataract development, principally nuclear or cortical cataract subtypes.