Carboxyethylpyrrole plasma biomarkers in age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration causes irreversible central blindness in people over the age of 50 and is increasing in prevalence among elderly populations. There are currently limited treatment options available for the exudative form of the disease and no formal treatments for the geographic atrophy form aside from lifestyle change and incorporation of antioxidant supplements in the diet. As such, it is important to be able to assess high-risk AMD patients as early as possible in order to prescribe preventative measures. Carboxyethylpyrrole (CEP) is a promising plasma biomarker suited to this purpose. Both CEP immunoreactivity levels as well as anti-CEP autoantibody titers are significantly elevated in AMD patients and thus provide the potential to assess AMD susceptibility with approximately 80% accuracy when evaluated alongside genomic AMD markers. Moreover, strong evidence implicates CEP as functionally related to AMD pathogenesis, a role which must be explored further. This avenue of research will foster improved understanding of the disease itself and perhaps reveal better therapeutic targets and options. Further research into the role of CEP in AMD pathogenesis and the application of CEP as an AMD biomarker is merited.