Analysis of antioxidative factors related to AMD risk development in the polish patients

Purpose Age‐related macular degeneration ( AMD ) is a major cause of blindness in developed countries. Oxidative mechanisms may play a key role in the aetiology of AMD . The main aim of this study was to investigate antioxidative markers in the pathogenesis of AMD . Methods A total of 510 subjects including 240 patients with AMD (mean age 77.9 ± 8.5 year) and 270 controls (mean age 74.0 ± 10.4 year) were allowed in this study. We measured activity of superoxide dismutase ( SOD ), catalase ( CAT ) and glutathione peroxidase ( GP x) and examined their association with the SNP s of respective genes ( SOD 1  +   35A/C, CAT C‐262T and GP x Pro197Leu). Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique was used to determine the selected gene polymorphisms. Sixty subjects including 30 patients with AMD (mean age 69.4 ± 9.3) and 30 controls (mean age 64.6 ± 8.2) were enrolled to determine the activity of antioxidant enzymes by spectrometry method. Results A significant decrease in enzymes, SOD (p = 0.011), CAT (p = 0.002) and GP x (p ≤ 0.001) in AMD patients compared to controls, was indicated. The risk of susceptibility to AMD was significantly higher in patients with AMD who had Pro197Leu C/T genotype of GP x ( OR  = 2.78; 95% CI  = 1.78–4.35). The A/C genotype and the C allele frequencies of A/C polymorphism of SOD 1 gene significantly reduce the risk of AMD ( OR =0.48; 95% CI 0.27; 0.85). Conclusion In conclusion, our data showed that insufficient antioxidant capacity may have an important role in age‐related macular degeneration. The polymorphism of GP x Pro197Leu may reduce the ability to scavenge free radicals in retina and contribute to the development of AMD .