April 2009
Volume 50, Issue 13
Free
ARVO Annual Meeting Abstract  |   April 2009
Bilateral Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Complement Factor H Genotypes
A. S. Pai; P. Mitchell; E. Rochtchina; S. Iyengar; J. J. Wang; Blue Mountains Eye Study
Author Affiliations & Notes
  • A. S. Pai
    Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • P. Mitchell
    Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • E. Rochtchina
    Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • S. Iyengar
    Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio
  • J. J. Wang
    Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
    Centre for Eye Research Australia, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
  • Blue Mountains Eye Study
    Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia
  • Footnotes
    Commercial Relationships  A.S. Pai, None; P. Mitchell, None; E. Rochtchina, None; S. Iyengar, None; J.J. Wang, None.
  • Footnotes
    Support  Australian NHMRC grant nos. 974159, 991407, 211069.
Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science April 2009, Vol.50, 1664. doi:
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      A. S. Pai, P. Mitchell, E. Rochtchina, S. Iyengar, J. J. Wang, Blue Mountains Eye Study; Bilateral Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Complement Factor H Genotypes. Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. 2009;50(13):1664.

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Abstract

Purpose: : We hypothesised that genetic susceptibility increases the likelihood that AMD lesions occur in both eyes rather than in only one eye. The purpose of this study was to determine whether complement factor H (CFH) genotypes influence bilateral involvement of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: : The Blue Mountains Eye Study (BMES) examined 3654 participants aged 49+ years at baseline (BMES-1, 1992-4), 2335 (75.3% of survivors) at 5-year (BMES-2, 1997-9) and 1952 (76.5%) at 10-year (BMES-3, 2002-4) follow-up examinations. Retinal photographs were graded following the Wisconsin AMD grading system. Early, late and any (early or late) AMD included prevalent and incident cases from all visits. CFH genotyping used Taqman assays.

Results: : Of 767 AMD cases, 53.3% of early, 53.1% of late and 60.4% of any AMD cases were bilateral. After adjusting for age, gender, current smoking and white cell count, compared to cases with unilateral early AMD signs, the CFH CC genotype was associated with an increased likelihood of bilateral involvement for any soft drusen (odds ratio [OR] 2.5, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.4-4.5), distinct soft drusen (OR 2.8, CI 1.0-8.1), and retinal pigmentary abnormalities (OR 1.7, CI 1.0-2.8). A significant association was also found between the CFH CC genotype and bilateral involvement of any AMD (OR 2.4, CI 1.3-4.5). However, we could not establish a significant association between this risk genotype and bilateral late AMD (OR 1.8, CI 0.4-7.7), or either geographic atrophy (OR 0.6, CI 0.07-4.6) or neovascular changes (OR 3.4, CI 0.3-41.4) separately.

Conclusions: : In this older Australian sample, we found that the CFH CC risk genotype was associated with an increased likelihood of bilateral involvement of early AMD lesions, independent of known AMD risk factors.

Keywords: age-related macular degeneration • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment • genetics 
© 2009, The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology, Inc., all rights reserved. Permission to republish any abstract or part of an abstract in any form must be obtained in writing from the ARVO Office prior to publication.
Copyright © 2025 Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology.
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