Associations of candidate genes to age-related macular degeneration among racial/ethnic groups in the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis.

PubMed ID: 23938121

Author(s): Klein R, Li X, Kuo JZ, Klein BE, Cotch MF, Wong TY, Taylor KD, Rotter JI. Associations of candidate genes to age-related macular degeneration among racial/ethnic groups in the Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis. Am J Ophthalmol. 2013 Nov;156(5):1010-1020.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.ajo.2013.06.004. Epub 2013 Aug 12. PMID 23938121

Journal: American Journal Of Ophthalmology, Volume 156, Issue 5, Nov 2013

PURPOSE To describe the relationships of selected candidate genes to the prevalence of early age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in a cohort of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Chinese Americans.

DESIGN Cross-sectional study.

METHODS setting: Multicenter study. study population: A total of 2456 persons aged 45-84 years with genotype information and fundus photographs. procedures: Twelve of 2862 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from 11 of 233 candidate genes for cardiovascular disease were selected for analysis based on screening with marginal unadjusted P value <.001 within 1 or more racial/ethnic groups. Logistic regression models tested for association in case-control samples. main outcome measure: Prevalence of early AMD.

RESULTS Early AMD was present in 4.0% of the cohort and varied from 2.4% in blacks to 6.0% in whites. The odds ratio increased from 2.3 for 1 to 10.0 for 4 risk alleles in a joint effect analysis of Age-Related Maculopathy Susceptibility 2 rs10490924 and Complement Factor H Y402H (P for trend = 4.2×10(-7)). Frequencies of each SNP varied among the racial/ethnic groups. Adjusting for age and other factors, few statistically significant associations of the 12 SNPs with AMD were consistent across all groups. In a multivariate model, most candidate genes did not attenuate the comparatively higher odds of AMD in whites. The higher frequency of risk alleles for several SNPs in Chinese Americans may partially explain their AMD frequency’s approaching that of whites.

CONCLUSIONS The relationships of 11 candidate genes to early AMD varied among 4 racial/ethnic groups, and partially explained the observed variations in early AMD prevalence among them.