The Association between the Lipids Levels in Blood and Risk of Age-Related Macular Degeneration.

Yafeng Wang,Ming Zhang,Mingxu Wang,Le Ma,Jing Nie,Xiaohong Liu,Qianyu Zhang,Xiaoqing Zhang

doi:10.3390/nu8100663

Abstract

Lipid metabolism may be involved in the pathogenic mechanism of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, conflicting results have been reported in the associations of AMD with blood lipids. We performed a meta-analysis including a total of 19 studies to evaluate associations between blood lipids and this disease. The result reported that the high level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) obtained with an increment of 1 mmol/L could result in a significantly increase in the AMD risk of approximately 18% (relative risk (RR), 1.18; 95% confidence interval (CI), 1.01 to 1.35; I2 = 53.8%; p = 0.007). High levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and triglycerides (TG) were significantly associated with a decreased risk of AMD (RRs ranging from 0.92 to 0.95; all p < 0.05). The stratified analysis based on AMD subtypes showed that these blood lipids were only significantly associated with the risk of early AMD (all p < 0.05). The association between the blood lipids and AMD risk did not differ substantially based on the other characteristics of the participants. A high HDL-C level was associated with an increased AMD risk, whereas participants with high TC, LDL-C, and TG concentrations may show a decreased risk for this disease. Further well-designed large studies are warranted to confirm the conclusions.

Highlights

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss among people aged 65 and older in western countries [1]
We conducted a comprehensive search of the PubMed, EMBASE, and ISI Web of Science databases from their inception to January 2016 for relevant studies that estimated the association between serum lipids and risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using the following search terms: (Cholesterol or lipids or high-density lipoprotein or HDL or low-density lipoprotein or LDL or triglycerides or triglycerides (TG)) and
The black squares indicates the relative weight of each estimate. The results of this meta-analysis showed that elevated high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) could be positively associated with an increased risk of AMD, whereas high total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and TG levels might have a protective role in the reduction of AMD risk

Summary

Introduction

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of irreversible vision loss among people aged 65 and older in western countries [1]. 8.7% of the worldwide population has AMD, and the projected number of people with this disease is projected to increase to approximately. A substantial increase in aging populations makes this disease have a significant public health impact, and the burden of AMD is increasing [3]. Nutrients 2016, 8, 663 to deposits of lipids and proteins in the retinal pigment epithelium. Progression to late stage is characterized by the occurrence of severe visual impairment either as a result of choroidal neovascularization (CNV) with hemorrhage or through atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and photoreceptor cells [4]. A high level of high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) could induce reverse cholesterol transport and improve endothelial function, which decreases the risk of atherosclerosis [6], whereas a high level of low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) exerts effects on atherosclerosis [7]. Some of the HDL-increasing alleles in the HDL-C pathway, such as the lipoprotein lipase gene, the cholesterol ester transferase gene, and the ABC-binding cassette A1 gene, have been associated with increased

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion