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Study associates new gene with wet and dry AMD risk
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A recent study has identified a new gene that may be associated with a patient's risk for developing both exudative and nonexudative age-related macular degeneration.
Kang Zhang, MD, PhD, and colleagues at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City compared genotypes of 581 patients with AMD to genotypes of 309 people without AMD. The researchers found that patients who have a mutant copy of the gene HTRA1 have up to a 700% increased risk for developing AMD compared to those without the mutation, according to the study.
The results suggest that HTRA1 aids in the formation of soft confluent drusen in dry AMD and contributes to angiogenesis in wet AMD, Dr. Zhang said in a press release from the university.
"Several previous studies have implicated a major gene at chromosome 10q26 that affects the risk of AMD, but until this study the precise gene has not been identified," he said in the release.
The study is published in the October 19 online issue of Science.