Photoreceptor Layer Thinning Is an Early Biomarker for Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Epidemiologic and Genetic Evidence from UK Biobank OCT Data.

ABSTRACT:

Purpose

Despite widespread use of OCT, an early-stage imaging biomarker for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has not been identified. Pathophysiologically, the timing of drusen accumulation in relationship to photoreceptor degeneration in AMD remains unclear, as are the inherited genetic variants contributing to these processes. Herein, we jointly analyzed OCT, electronic health record data, and genomic data to characterize the time sequence of changes in retinal layer thicknesses in AMD, as well as epidemiologic and genetic associations between retinal layer thicknesses and AMD.

Design

Cohort study.

Participants

Forty-four thousand eight hundred twenty-three individuals from the UK Biobank (enrollment age range, 40-70 years; 54% women; median follow-up, 10 year

SUBMITTER: Zekavat SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9134644 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature