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Inflammation and angiogenesis in age‐related macular degeneration
Author(s) -
SENNLAUB F
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2014.2753.x
Subject(s) - choroidal neovascularization , macular degeneration , inflammation , pathogenesis , immunology , angiogenesis , neovascularization , macrophage , immune system , medicine , monocyte , biology , cancer research , genetics , ophthalmology , in vitro
It is becoming increasingly clear that an altered immune response, which leads to low‐grade persistent inflammation, plays an important role in AMD pathogenesis in general and in choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in particular. Markers of inflammation, such as plasma levels of complement components and activation‐fragments, inflammatory cytokines and inflammatory monocytes are increased in AMD patients. Locally, mononuclear phagocytes (MPs, a family of cells that include microglial cells, monocytes, and macrophages) accumulate subretinally and possibly promote CNV. Data from different laboratories including our own indicate that the recruitment of inflammatory MPs, factors that promote their subretinal survival and the lack of tonic inhibitory signalling on MPs promotes CNV development. We will here present a summary of the current state of knowledge and its impact on the development of future therapies.