PURPOSE: To investigate whether a polymorphism in the complement factor H gene determines the risk for the development of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: In this retrospective case-control study, we enrolled 133 unrelated Taiwan Chinese patients with early AMD and 180 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Early AMD was defined as the presence of extensive intermediate drusen or any large, soft drusen (> or = 125 microm), possibly accompanied by drusenoid retinal pigment epithelial detachment, and the absence of signs of late AMD. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood obtained from all the AMD patients and control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze the complement factor H polymorphism (Y402H, rs1061170). RESULTS: The genotype distribution differed significantly between the early AMD patients (TT 80%; TC 14%; and CC 6%) and controls (TT 91%; TC 9%; CC 0%; P = 9 x 10(-4)). The C allele frequency was significantly higher in the early AMD patients than in the controls (13% vs. 4%, P = 1 x 10(-4), odds ratios = 3.26, 95% confidence intervals = 1.76-6.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the presence of the Y402H polymorphism in complement factor H is significantly associated with increased susceptibility to early AMD in Taiwan Chinese populations and that the C allele frequency is low in these populations.
PURPOSE: To investigate whether a polymorphism in the complement factor H gene determines the risk for the development of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD). METHODS: In this retrospective case-control study, we enrolled 133 unrelated Taiwan Chinese patients with early AMD and 180 age- and sex-matched control subjects. Early AMD was defined as the presence of extensive intermediate drusen or any large, soft drusen (> or = 125 microm), possibly accompanied by drusenoid retinal pigment epithelial detachment, and the absence of signs of late AMD. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood obtained from all the AMDpatients and control subjects. Polymerase chain reaction was performed to analyze the complement factor H polymorphism (Y402H, rs1061170). RESULTS: The genotype distribution differed significantly between the early AMDpatients (TT 80%; TC 14%; and CC 6%) and controls (TT 91%; TC 9%; CC 0%; P = 9 x 10(-4)). The C allele frequency was significantly higher in the early AMDpatients than in the controls (13% vs. 4%, P = 1 x 10(-4), odds ratios = 3.26, 95% confidence intervals = 1.76-6.02). CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrated that the presence of the Y402H polymorphism in complement factor H is significantly associated with increased susceptibility to early AMD in Taiwan Chinese populations and that the C allele frequency is low in these populations.
Authors: Reecha Sofat; Juan P Casas; Andrew R Webster; Alan C Bird; Samantha S Mann; John R W Yates; Anthony T Moore; Tiina Sepp; Valentina Cipriani; Catey Bunce; Jane C Khan; Humma Shahid; Anand Swaroop; Gonçalo Abecasis; Kari E H Branham; Sepideh Zareparsi; Arthur A Bergen; Caroline C W Klaver; Dominique C Baas; Kang Zhang; Yuhong Chen; Daniel Gibbs; Bernhard H F Weber; Claudia N Keilhauer; Lars G Fritsche; Andrew Lotery; Angela J Cree; Helen L Griffiths; Shomi S Bhattacharya; Li L Chen; Sharon A Jenkins; Tunde Peto; Mark Lathrop; Thierry Leveillard; Michael B Gorin; Daniel E Weeks; Maria Carolina Ortube; Robert E Ferrell; Johanna Jakobsdottir; Yvette P Conley; Mati Rahu; Johan H Seland; Gisele Soubrane; Fotis Topouzis; Jesus Vioque; Laura Tomazzoli; Ian Young; John Whittaker; Usha Chakravarthy; Paulus T V M de Jong; Liam Smeeth; Astrid Fletcher; Aroon D Hingorani Journal: Int J Epidemiol Date: 2012-01-13 Impact factor: 7.196