title: Vascular endothelial growth factor gene polymorphisms in age-related macular degeneration in a Turkish population.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To assess the association between age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and three single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) related to the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene.
  
  
  METHODS
  The patients who were diagnosed with AMD were included in this prospective study. Three SNPs (rs1413711, rs2146323, and rs3025033) of the VEGF gene were genotyped by real-time polymerase chain reaction in the genomic DNA isolated from peripheral blood samples of the 82 patients and 80 controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The genotype frequencies of rs1413711 and rs2146323 were not significantly different between the study group and the control group (P=0.072 and P=0.058). However, there was a significant difference in the genotype frequencies of these SNPs between the wet type AMD and dry type AMD (P=0.005 and P=0.010, respectively). One of the SNPs (rs1413711) was also found to be associated with the severity of AMD (P=0.001) with significant genotype distribution between early, intermediate, and advanced stages of the disease. The ancestral alleles were protective for both SNPs while the polymorphic alleles increased the risk for dry AMD.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  VEGF SNPs rs1413711 and rs2146323 polymorphisms are significantly associated with AMD subtypes in our population.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Yunus
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Bulgu
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Genetics, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Gokhan Ozan
authors.initials: GO
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Biology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Vildan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Caner
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ebru Nevin
authors.initials: EN
authors.lastname: Cetin
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Volkan
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Yaylali
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, School of Medicine, Pamukkale University, Denizli 20070, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cem
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Yildirim
keywords: age-related macular degeneration; single nucleotide polymorphism; vascular endothelial growth factor