Introduction and objective:
Glaucoma ranks as the second leading cause of blindness globally. The key factors leading to glaucoma are increased intraocular pressure and retinal ganglion cell apoptosis. Glaucoma is an irreversible disease that causes blindness in the eye, characterized by progressive optic nerve damage and visual field defects. The expression of miR-802 is abnormal in the plasma of glaucoma patients, but its function and mechanism remain unclear. The aim of the study is to investigate the expression of miR-802 in glaucoma and retinal ganglion cells, and the effect of miR-802 on 661W cells under oxidative stress.

Material and methods:
The study used RT-qPCR to detect the expression level of miR-802 in 661W cells and glaucoma patients. Receiver operating characteristic curve (ROC) was used to assess the diagnostic value of miR-802 in glaucoma. Cell viability was assessed using the Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, while cell apoptosis was detected via flow cytometry.

Results:
In glaucoma patients, miR-802 expression was significantly downregulated and correlated with elevated IOP, reduced RNFL, and increased eGFR. MiR-802 demonstrated exceptional diagnostic value for the onset of glaucoma. In addition, decreased miR-802 expression was a risk factor associated with glaucoma. MiR-802 accelerated the proliferation of 661W cells and slowed down the apoptosis rate. Moreover, miR-802 mimic inhibited H2O2-induced 661W cell apoptosis.

Conclusions:
Upregulation of miR-802 alleviated oxidative stress-induced damage in 661W cells. miR-802 might be used as a marker for detecting glaucoma.