Investigation of vascular endothelial dysfunction in the patients with age-related macular degeneration

Area of Science:

• Ophthalmology and Cardiovascular Medicine
• Vascular Biology and Atherosclerosis
• Biomarkers for Disease Detection

Background:

• Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of vision loss in older adults.
• Cardiovascular disease (CVD) shares common risk factors with AMD, suggesting potential underlying links.
• Endothelial dysfunction is an early indicator of subclinical atherosclerosis and a potential shared pathway.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cardiovascular disease.
• To utilize the noninvasive flow-mediated dilation (FMD) test to assess endothelial function in AMD patients.
• To determine if endothelial dysfunction, as measured by FMD, is indicative of subclinical atherosclerosis in individuals with AMD.

Main Methods:

• A comparative study involving 30 dry AMD patients, 30 wet AMD patients, and 30 healthy controls.
• Measurement of flow-mediated dilation (FMD) of the brachial artery in all participants.
• Assessment of intima media thickness (IMT) of the carotid artery in all participant groups.

Main Results:

• Healthy controls exhibited 10.96% brachial artery dilation, significantly higher than dry AMD (3.99%) and wet AMD (5.03%) groups.
• Abnormal FMD (<7% dilation) was found in 66.7% of dry AMD and 76.7% of wet AMD patients, compared to 26.7% of controls.
• While IMT differences were not statistically significant, a higher percentage of AMD patients (dry: 33.3%, wet: 43.3%) showed abnormal IMT compared to controls (26.7%).

Conclusions:

• The flow-mediated dilation (FMD) test demonstrated endothelial dysfunction in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
• Endothelial dysfunction identified through FMD suggests a link between AMD and subclinical atherosclerosis.
• No significant differences in FMD or IMT were observed between dry and wet AMD patient groups.