Purpose: The current study aimed to identify metabolites associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by performing the largest metabolome association analysis in AMD to date, as well as aiming to determine the effect of AMD-associated genetic variants on metabolite levels and investigate associations between the identified metabolites and activity of the complement system, one of the main AMD-associated disease pathways.
Design: Case-control association analysis of metabolomics data.
Participants: Five European cohorts consisting of 2267 AMD patients and 4266 control participants.
Methods: Metabolomics was performed using a high-throughput proton nuclear magnetic resonance metabolomics platform, which allows quantification of 146 metabolite measurements and 79 derivative values. Metabolome-AMD associations were studied using univariate logistic regression analyses. The effect of 52 AMD-associated genetic variants on the identified metabolites was investigated using linear regression. In addition, associations between the identified metabolites and activity of the complement pathway (defined by the C3d-to-C3 ratio) were investigated using linear regression.
Main Outcome Measures: Metabolites associated with AMD.
Results: We identified 60 metabolites that were associated significantly with AMD, including increased levels of large and extra-large high-density lipoprotein (HDL) subclasses and decreased levels of very low-density lipoprotein (VLDL), amino acids, and citrate. Of 52 AMD-associated genetic variants, 7 variants were associated significantly with 34 of the identified metabolites. The strongest associations were identified for genetic variants located in or near genes involved in lipid metabolism (ABCA1, CETP, APOE, and LIPC) with metabolites belonging to the large and extra-large HDL subclasses. Also, 57 of 60 metabolites were associated significantly with complement activation levels, independent of AMD status. Increased large and extra-large HDL levels and decreased VLDL and amino acid levels were associated with increased complement activation.
Conclusions: Lipoprotein levels were associated with AMD-associated genetic variants, whereas decreased essential amino acids may point to nutritional deficiencies in AMD. We observed strong associations between the vast majority of the AMD-associated metabolites and systemic complement activation levels, independent of AMD status. This may indicate biological interactions between the main AMD disease pathways and suggests that multiple pathways may need to be targeted simultaneously for successful treatment of AMD.
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ophtha.2020.06.020 | DOI Listing |
Retin Cases Brief Rep
October 2024
Singapore National Eye Centre, Singapore.
Purpose: We describe an atypical presentation of an 11-year-old female with enhanced S-cone syndrome (ESCS).
Methods: Case report. The patient underwent a thorough ophthalmic examination and investigations such as colour fundus photography, optical coherence tomography, fundus autofluorescence, fluorescein and indocyanine angiography, an electroretinogram and genetic testing.
Neurology
February 2025
Department of Integrated Traditional Chinese and Western Medicine, The Third Affiliated Hospital of Soochow University, Changzhou, China.
Background And Objectives: Methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) is a key enzyme that regulates folate and homocysteine metabolism. Genetic variation in has been implicated in cerebrovascular disease risk, although research in diverse populations is lacking. We thus aimed to investigate the effect of genetically predicted MTHFR activity on risk of ischemic stroke (IS) and its main subtypes using a multiancestry Mendelian randomization (MR) approach.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Clin Endocrinol Metab
January 2025
IMAGINE Institute Affiliate, INSERM U1163, Paris, France.
Context: Congenital hypothyroidism (CH) is the most common neonatal endocrine disorder and is chiefly caused by thyroid dysgenesis (CHTD). The inheritance mode of the disease remains complex.
Objectives: Gain insight into the inheritance mode of CHTD.
PLoS Genet
January 2025
Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland (FIMM), HiLIFE, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland.
Recent statistical approaches have shown that the set of all available genetic variants explains considerably more phenotypic variance of complex traits and diseases than the individual variants that are robustly associated with these phenotypes. However, rapidly increasing sample sizes constantly improve detection and prioritization of individual variants driving the associations between genomic regions and phenotypes. Therefore, it is useful to routinely estimate how much phenotypic variance the detected variants explain for each region by taking into account the correlation structure of variants and the uncertainty in their causal status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPLoS One
January 2025
Washington University School of Medicine, NeuroGenomics and Informatics Center, St. Louis, MO, United States of America.
Case-only designs in longitudinal cohorts are a valuable resource for identifying disease-relevant genes, pathways, and novel targets influencing disease progression. This is particularly relevant in Alzheimer's disease (AD), where longitudinal cohorts measure disease "progression," defined by rate of cognitive decline. Few of the identified drug targets for AD have been clinically tractable, and phenotypic heterogeneity is an obstacle to both clinical research and basic science.
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