title: Sunlight exposure, pigmentation, and incident age-related macular degeneration.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Examine potential effects of sunlight exposure, hair color, eye color, and selected gene single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) on incidence of AMD.
  
  
  METHODS
  Subjects participated in up to five examinations over a 20-year period. Eye color, self-reported hair color as a teenager, and sunlight exposure were ascertained at the baseline examination. Presence and severity of AMD and its lesions were determined via fundus photographs. Genetic data were available on a subset of participants. The SNPs CFH Y402H rs1061170 and ARMS2 A69S rs10490924 were used to analyze genetic risk of AMD; OCA2 rs4778241 and HERC2 rs12913832 represented genetic determinants of eye color.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Incidence of early AMD was higher in blond/red-haired persons compared with brown/black-haired persons (hazard ratio [HR] 1.25, P = 0.02) and in persons with high sun exposure in their thirties (HR 1.41, P = 0.02). However, neither was significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Eye (HR 1.36, P = 0.006) and hair color (HR 1.42, P = 0.003) were associated with incidence of any retinal pigmentary abnormalities (RPAs). Both remained significant after adjustment for multiple comparisons. Neither presence of alleles for light-colored eyes nor those associated with high risk of late AMD altered the association of eye or hair color with early AMD. None of the characteristics studied were significantly associated with late AMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Modest associations of eye color, hair color, and HERC2 genotype with any RPAs were found. Genes for AMD did not affect these associations. Eye color phenotype was more strongly associated with outcomes than HERC2 or OCA2 genotype.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
authors.forename: Barbara E K
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Klein
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
authors.forename: Kerri P
authors.initials: KP
authors.lastname: Howard
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetics & Genome Sciences and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States.
authors.forename: Sudha K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Iyengar
authors.affiliation: Departments of Epidemiology & Biostatistics, Genetics & Genome Sciences and Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio, United States Division of Human Genetics, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, Cincinnati, Ohio, United States.
authors.forename: Theru A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Sivakumaran
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
authors.forename: Kristin J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Meyers
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States Department of Population Health Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
authors.forename: Karen J
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cruickshanks
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Madison, Wisconsin, United States.
authors.forename: Ronald
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Klein
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D017242:Complement Factor H / Q000235:genetics; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects*; D005127:Eye Color / Q000528:radiation effects*; D005260:Female; D059647:Gene-Environment Interaction; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D005838:Genotype; D006200:Hair Color / Q000528:radiation effects*; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020641:Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide; D011506:Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D013472:Sunlight / Q000009:adverse effects*; D014922:Wisconsin / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: C514392:ARMS2 protein, human; D011506:Proteins; D017242:Complement Factor H
keywords: age-related macular degeneration; eye color; hair color; pigmentation; sunlight exposure