Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease of a central part of the neural retina (macula) and a leading cause of blindness in elderly people. While it is known that the AMD is a multifactorial disease, genetic factors involved in lipid metabolism, inflammation, and neovascularization are currently being widely studied in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). The aim of our study was to evaluate the impact of new single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in RAD51B, TRIB1, COL8A1, and COL10A1 genes on AMD development.
Methods: Case-control study involved 254 patients diagnosed with early AMD, 244 patients with exudative AMD, and 942 control subjects. The genotyping of RAD51B (rs8017304 and rs2588809), TRIB1 (rs6987702, rs4351379, and rs4351376), COL8A1 (rs13095226), and COL10A1 (rs1064583) was carried out using TaqMan assays by a real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) method.
Results: Statistically significant difference was found in genotype (TT, TC, and CC) distribution of COL8A1 rs13095226 between exudative AMD and control groups (60.2%, 33.6%, and 6.1% vs. 64.9%, 32.3%, and 2.9%, respectively, p = 0.036). Also, comparing with TT+TC, rs13095226 CC genotype was associated with 3.5-fold increased odds of exudative AMD development (OR = 3.540; 95% CI: 1.415-8.856; p = 0.007).
Conclusion: Our study revealed a strong association between a variant in COL8A1 (rs13095226) and exudative AMD development.