title: Use of blood markers in early diagnosis of oxidative stress in age related macular degeneration.
abstract: Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly population, affecting approximately 30-50 million people around the world.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  to establish the role of oxidative stress in retinal structural lesions.
  
  
  METHODS
  It is a case-control study that included 19 patients diagnosed with AMD. Depending on the severity of the diagnosis, patients were divided into 3 groups: group 1 - mild AMD, group 2 - moderate, atrophic AMD, group 3 - severe, neovascular AMD. They were followed by assessment of visual acuity, optical coherence tomography (OCT) and oxidative stress markers like superoxide-dismutase (SOD), thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and inflammatory marker - C-reactive protein (CRP).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Risk factors involved in patients with AMD are arterial hypertension, smoking, hyperlipidemia and diet poor in antioxidants, as revealed in the questionnaire. Retinal thickness assessed by optical coherence tomography showed that values in patients with severity level 2 is within normal limits, while in patients with severity level 3, these values are significantly increased due to macular edema. The mean values of SOD, TBARS and CRP in the studied group were significantly higher compared to controls, being higher in group severity level 3.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study shows the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in retinal structural lesions in AMD and the importance of blood markers in early detection of oxidative stress and thus of retinal lesions in this disease.
authors.affiliation: University of Medicine and Pharmacy Grigore T Popa Iasi, Faculty of Medicine.
authors.forename: Raluca
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dănulescu
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Costin
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D042241:Early Diagnosis; D005247:Feeding Behavior; D005260:Female; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D006949:Hyperlipidemias / Q000150:complications; D006973:Hypertension / Q000150:complications; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018384:Oxidative Stress; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D012307:Risk Factors; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D012907:Smoking / Q000009:adverse effects; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase / Q000097:blood*; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances / Q000378:metabolism*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D016166:Free Radical Scavengers; D017392:Thiobarbituric Acid Reactive Substances; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D013482:Superoxide Dismutase