The association between statin use and risk of age-related macular degeneration.

Le Ma,Junhui Du,Yihao Fu,Mingxu Wang,Rui Zhang,Yafeng Wang

doi:10.1038/srep18280

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between statin use and the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). A systematic search of the PubMed, EMBASE and ISI web of science databases was used to identify eligible published literatures without language restrictions up to April 2015. Summary relative ratios (RRs) and 95% CIs were estimated using a fixed-effect or random-effects model. A total of 14 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this meta-analysis. No significant association was observed between statin use and the risk of any AMD (RR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.74–1.15); and stratified analysis showed that statins had a significantly different effects on early and late stages of AMD. For early AMD, statin use significantly reduced the risk approximately 17% (RR, 0.83; 95% CI, 0.66–0.99). At the late stage, we observed a significant protective association of statin use with exudative AMD (RR, 0.90; 95% CI, 0.80–0.99), in contrast with the absent association between statins and geographic atrophy (RR, 1.16; 95% CI, 0.77–1.56). These results demonstrated that statin use was protective for early and exudative AMD. Additional large prospective cohort studies and RCTs are required to determine the potential effect of statins on AMD prevention.

Highlights

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive eye disorder and the leading cause of visual impairment among the individuals over 50 years of age in western countries[1]
The present results showed that no significant associations of statin use with the risk for late stage agerelated macular degeneration (AMD) were observed (RR, 0.92; 95% CI, 0.77–1.07; I2 = 0%; P = 0.63; Fig. 4)
No publication bias was detected (P > 0.05). The results from this meta-analysis showed that statin use was significantly associated with lower risk for early AMD compared with non-users

Summary

Introduction

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a progressive eye disorder and the leading cause of visual impairment among the individuals over 50 years of age in western countries[1]. The drugs lowering the risk of cardiovascular disease might confer a protective effect for AMD. As hydroxymethylglutarylcoenzyme A (HMGCo-A) reductase inhibitors, statins reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels and exert anti-inflammatory effects, in addition to modifying dyslipidemia, both of which are relevant in the development of AMD, indicating that statin use might play a potential role in reducing the risk of disease[8,9]. The pathological hallmarks of the disease might differ during early and late AMD; and whether the effect of statin use is controversial during different stages remain unclear[12]. We conducted a meta-analysis to pool the results of all available association studies between statin use and the risk of AMD. Stratified analyses were conducted to explore associations with differentiation in AMD subtype

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Conclusion