title: Vitamin A-aldehyde adducts: AMD risk and targeted therapeutics.
abstract: Although currently available treatment options for age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are limited, particularly for atrophic AMD, the identification of predisposing genetic variations has informed clinical studies addressing therapeutic options such as complement inhibitors and anti-inflammatory agents. To lower risk of early AMD, recommended lifestyle interventions such as the avoidance of smoking and the intake of low glycemic antioxidant-rich diets have largely followed from the identification of nongenetic modifiable factors. On the other hand, the challenge of understanding the complex relationship between aging and cumulative damage leading to AMD has fueled investigations of the visual cycle adducts that accumulate in retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and are a hallmark of aging retina. These studies have revealed properties of these compounds that provide insights into processes that may compromise RPE and could contribute to disease mechanisms in AMD. This work has also led to the design of targeted therapeutics that are currently under investigation.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032; Department of Pathology and Cell Biology, Columbia University Medical Center, New York, NY 10032 jrs88@cumc.columbia.edu.
authors.forename: Janet R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Sparrow
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D006801:Humans; D008268:Macular Degeneration / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000378:metabolism*; D058990:Molecular Targeted Therapy; D055213:Retinal Pigment Epithelium / Q000378:metabolism; D012172:Retinaldehyde / Q000378:metabolism*; D012307:Risk Factors
chemical_list: D012172:Retinaldehyde
keywords: age-related macular degeneration; bisretinoids; photoreceptor cells; retinal pigment epithelium; vitamin A-aldehyde adducts