Abstract
Purpose :
Vitamin D has been shown to have anti-inflammatory and antiangiogenic properties and currently has been suggested as a potentially modifiable risk factor for age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, studies have been inconclusive. We examined the associated between vitamin D and AMD in the Rotterdam Study.
Methods :
Participants from the Rotterdam 1 and 2 studies, aged 55+ years underwent three identical examinations during 1997-2010. Fundus photographs were graded according to the Rotterdam classification. Serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D concentrations were obtained during baseline using electrochemiluminenscence-immunoassay. Vitamin D serum levels were analyzed continuously after natural log transformation and in categories; adequate ≥50nmol/L (reference), insufficient 25-50 nmol/L, and deficient < 25nmol/L. We conducted a logistic regression analyses to determine the relationship between vitamin D concentrations and any (early + late) AMD at baseline and during follow-up, adjusted for age, sex, cohort and season of blood sampeling and for the analyses of incident AMD follow-up time. Additionally we adjusted for history of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, ethnicity, body mass index, total cholesterol, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol, serum calcium, smoking, and education.
Results :
At baseline, 625 participants had prevalent AMD and 2941 participants had no signs of AMD. Vitamin D concentrations were not associated with prevalence of AMD (adjusted OR, per SD increase, 0.85 (95% CI 0.70-1.04). For insufficient and deficient vitamin D concentrations no significant associations were found with prevalence of any AMD; adjusted OR 1.03 (95% CI 0.82-1.29) and adjusted OR 1.30 (95 % CI 0.96-1.77), respectively. Among 4138 participants without any AMD at baseline, 711 developed incident AMD after a median of 8.5 years of follow-up (interquartile range 4.5-10.8). No significant associations were found for vitamin D concentrations and AMD (adjusted OR, per SD increase, 1.06 (0.87-1.30)). Both insufficient as deficient vitamin D concentrations were not associated with incident AMD; adjusted OR 0.92 (95% CI 0.75-1.14) and OR 1.14 (95% CI 0.83-1.58), respectively.
Conclusions :
Vitamin D serum concentrations were not associated with prevalent nor with incident any AMD in the Rotterdam Study. These findings do not support a specific role for vitamin D within the pathogenesis of AMD.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.