Abstract: The long-term use of systemic glucocorticoid as well as topical sustained-release preparations would result in glucocorticoid induced cataract (GIC), increasing the risk of both cortical and nuclear cataracts and making the onset of cataracts earlier than those of healthy people. The risk of cataracts is different according to different administration methods, doses, dosage forms and the disparate systemic diseases. For example, intravitreal injection of long-acting sustained-release glucocorticoids is about 3 to 5 times the risk of cataracts compared with oral administration. The risk of cataracts was 1.03 times higher for every additional 1 g of prednisone-equivalent cumulative oral hormone. The risk of cataracts was 2.4 times higher in patients taking the third-generation glucocorticoid Difloxacin than in patients taking prednisone. The pathogenesis of GIC has not been thoroughly elucidated, and the current research mainly focuses on glucocorticoid receptor-mediated changes in protein structure and function, abnormal cell differentiation caused by growth factors, excessive activation of apoptosis, changes in the structure and function of crystallins and oxidative stress. (Int Rev Ophthalmol, 2022, 46:  296-303)

Key words: glucocorticoid, cataract