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Study: Apoptosis at work in AMD

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PHILADELPHIA — Retinal cells die by apoptosis in age-related macular degeneration, a postmortem study here suggests.

Researchers here at the Scheie Eye Institute compared postmortem retinas with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) to normal retinas to identify dying cells. The maculas with AMD had geographic atrophy or exudative AMD.

A method that flags cells killed by apoptosis (TUNEL) identified significantly more cells in maculas with AMD than in normal retinas. Most of the TUNEL-positive retinal pigment epithelium and photoreceptor cells were at the edges of atrophy. The study authors noted that this correlates with clinically observed expansion of atrophic areas with vision loss in patients with geographic atrophy.

Histologic sections were also labeled for Fas, a cell surface receptor that triggers apoptosis in other cell types. Increased Fas labeling in AMD photoreceptors indicates that the Fas/Fas ligand system may be involved in photoreceptor apoptosis, the authors reported.

The study authors said understanding of the mechanism of cell death in AMD is essential for developing a rational therapy for the disease. The study is published in the November issue of Archives of Ophthalmology.