Differential DNA methylation identified in the blood and retina of AMD patients.

ABSTRACT: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness in the western world. While genetic studies have linked both common and rare variants in genes involved in regulation of the complement system to increased risk of development of AMD, environmental factors, such as smoking and nutrition, can also significantly affect the risk of developing the disease and the rate of disease progression. Since epigenetics has been implicated in mediating, in part, the disease risk associated with some environmental factors, we investigated a possible epigenetic contribution to AMD. We performed genome-wide DNA methylation profiling of blood from AMD patients and controls. No differential methylation site reached genome-wide significance; however, when epigenetic changes in and around know

SUBMITTER: Oliver VF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4622056 | biostudies-literature | 2015

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature