Evidence mapPaperPMID 42496936Full record

ArticleInternational ophthalmology2026

Neurotoxic effects of dietary glutamate in glaucoma and potential nutritional and pharmacological therapies: a scoping review.

Larysse Maria Santiago de Castro, John Hebert da Silva Felix, Larissa Araújo Oliveira Alves, Maria Tayane Barroso Dos Santos, Antonio Átila Menezes Ferreira, Thiago Queiroz da Silva, José Cleiton Sousa Dos Santos, Aluísio Marques da Fonseca

Abstract readScoping Review
In one paragraph

Article in International ophthalmology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

8 authors.

Larysse Maria Santiago de CastroInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil. laryssesantiag8@aluno.unilab.edu.br.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0007-2824-9720
John Hebert da Silva FelixInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
Larissa Araújo Oliveira AlvesInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
Maria Tayane Barroso Dos SantosInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
Antonio Átila Menezes FerreiraInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
Thiago Queiroz da SilvaInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
José Cleiton Sousa Dos SantosInstitute of Engineering and Sustainable Development, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.
Aluísio Marques da FonsecaInstitute of Exact and Natural Sciences, University for the International Integration of Afro-Brazilian Lusophony, Redencao, Ceará, Brazil.

Funding

Ceará Foundation for the Support of Scientific and Technological Development (FUNCAP) PS1-0186-00216.01.00/21; 31052.000417/2023; UNI-0210-00537.01.00/23Coordination for the Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES) Finance Code 001
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeTo synthesize the available evidence on the relationship between dietary glutamate or glutamatergic metabolism and glaucomatous neurodegeneration, with emphasis on biomarkers, retinal injury mechanisms, and nutritional, antioxidant, or pharmacological strategies with neuroprotective potential.

methodsThis study was conducted as a systematic and bibliometric literature review following the PRISMA 2020 logic of identification, screening, eligibility, and inclusion. Searches were performed in Web of Science, Scopus, and PubMed for studies published in English between 2020 and 2025. The search strategy combined terms related to glaucoma or ocular neurodegeneration, the glutamatergic axis, and biomarkers, mechanisms, or interventions. After screening and full-text assessment, 39 studies were included in the systematic synthesis. Due to methodological heterogeneity, the evidence was synthesized narratively and comparatively, without meta-analysis.

resultsThe included studies were organized into six thematic clusters: metabolomic, transcriptomic, and diagnostic biomarkers; pharmacological and neuroprotective interventions; nutritional, antioxidant, and natural-compound neuroprotection; oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and regulated cell death; neuroinflammation and glia-mediated retinal injury; and glutamatergic excitotoxicity and neurotransmitter imbalance. The evidence indicates that glutamate-related mechanisms in glaucoma are mainly associated with endogenous glutamatergic metabolism, excitotoxicity, impaired glutamate clearance, glutamate-glutamine homeostasis, oxidative and nitrosative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, ferroptosis, neuroinflammation, and retinal ganglion cell vulnerability. None of the 39 included studies directly evaluated dietary glutamate or monosodium glutamate as the main exposure.

conclusionThe available evidence does not support a direct conclusion that dietary glutamate or MSG intake contributes to glaucoma onset or progression. Instead, current findings mainly support an indirect mechanistic relationship between endogenous glutamatergic dysregulation and glaucomatous neurodegeneration. Pharmacological, antioxidant, metabolic, and natural-compound strategies show neuroprotective potential, particularly in experimental models, but clinical and translational studies are still needed to clarify the role of dietary exposure, glutamate-glutamine metabolism, and targeted neuroprotective interventions in glaucoma.

Indexed as

DietGlaucomaGlutamic AcidAnimalsAntioxidantsHumansNeuroprotective AgentsOxidative StressRetinal Ganglion CellsAntioxidantsGlutamic AcidNeuroprotective AgentsExcitotoxicityGlaucomaGlutamateGlutamineNeuroprotection

Identifiers

PMID42496936
PMCPMC13400695

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.