Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Patients With Nonarteritic Anterior Ischemic Optic Neuropathy and Optic Disc Drusen

The anterior optic nerve is packed with mitochondria to generate energy to support action potential conduction. Mitochondrial dysfunction leads to vision loss in dominant optic atrophy (DOA) and Leber hereditary optic neuropathy, and has been implicated in sporadic optic neuropathies. In this study, we asked whether skin fibroblasts from patients with acquired optic neuropathies such as nonarteritic anterior ischemic optic neuropathy (NAION) and optic disc drusen (ODD) exhibit mitochondrial dysfunction compared with those from dominant optic atrophy (DOA) and healthy controls.