Association of Alzheimer's disease and age‐related macular degeneration

AbstractPurpose The pathomechanisms of age‐related macular degeneration (AMD) and Alzheimer dementia (AD) show several similarities. Allelic variations of apolipoprotein E (apoE) are associated with both diseases: apoE4 with increased risk of AD, whereas apoE2 with reduced susceptibility of AD, but increased risk of AMD. The AMD associated complement factor H (CFH) gene has also been shown to influence the risk of AD. We investigated, therefore, the occurrence of AMD in AD patients and compared their lipid profile, apoE and CFH polymorphisms.Methods 96 AMD, 84 AD and 30 control patients were examined (visual acuity, biomicroscopy, fundoscopy). Measurements of triglyceride, total‐ and HDL cholesterol levels, as well as the analysis of apoE and CFH alleles were performed.Results The prevalence of the apoE4 isoform in the AMD, AD and control patients was 6%, 34% and 27%, while that of apoE2 was 14%, 11% and 6%, respectively. The occurrence rate of CFH Y402H CC homozygote mutation was 35%, 19% and 16%, respectively. Triglyceride, total‐ and HDL cholesterol levels were in the reference range. Advanced AMD was found in 13% of the 68 cooperating AD patients, the early and intermediate form was seen in 17%.Conclusion A higher frequency of apoE2 in AMD, and a higher frequency of apoE4 in Alzheimer's patients have been found. The CFH mutation is associated with AMD, but does not differ significantly between Alzheimer's patients and controls. The frequency of early and intermediate AMD in AD patients was lower than expected from the population‐based studies.