title: Analysis of Macular Drusen and Blood Test Results in 945 Macaca fascicularis.
abstract: Age-dependent formation of macular drusen caused by the focal accumulation of extracellular deposits beneath the retinal pigment epithelium precede the development of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. It is established that inflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of drusen and AMD. However, development of a preemptive therapeutic strategy targeting macular drusen and AMD has been impeded by the lack of relevant animal models because most laboratory animals lack macula, an anatomic feature present only in humans and a subset of monkeys. Reportedly, macular drusen and macular degeneration develop in monkeys in an age-dependent manner. In this study, we analyzed blood test results from 945 Macaca fascicularis, 317 with and 628 without drusen. First, a trend test for drusen frequency (the Cochran-Armitage test) was applied to the quartile data for each parameter. We selected variables with an increasing or decreasing trend with higher quartiles at P < 0.05, to which multivariate logistic regression analysis was applied. This revealed a positive association of age (odds ratio [OR]: 1.10 per year, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.07-1.12) and white blood cell count (OR: 1.01 per 1 × 103/μl, 95% CI: 1.00-1.01) with drusen. When the monkeys were divided by age, the association between drusen and white blood cell count was only evident in younger monkeys (OR: 1.01 per 1 × 103/μl, 95% CI: 1.00-1.02). In conclusion, age and white blood cell count may be associated with drusen development in M. fascicularis. Systemic inflammation may contribute to drusen formation in monkeys.
authors: Department of Advanced Ophthalmic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Koji M
authors: KM
authors: Nishiguchi
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Yu
authors: Y
authors: Yokoyama
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Yusuke
authors: Y
authors: Fujii
authors: Department of Retinal Disease Control, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Kosuke
authors: K
authors: Fujita
authors: Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Yusuke
authors: Y
authors: Tomiyama
authors: Department of Public Health, Yamagata University Graduate School of Medical Science, Yamagata, Japan.
authors: Ryo
authors: R
authors: Kawasaki
authors: Kurashiki University of Science and the Arts, Department of Comparative Animal Science, Kurashiki, Japan.
authors: Toshinori
authors: T
authors: Furukawa
authors: Chiba Institute of Science, Faculties of Risk and Crisis Management, Choshi, Japan.
authors: Fumiko
authors: F
authors: Ono
authors: Tsukuba Primate Research Center, National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Health and Nutrition, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors: Nobuhiro
authors: N
authors: Shimozawa
authors: The Corporation for Production and Research of Laboratory Primates, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors: Mutsumi
authors: M
authors: Togo
authors: The Corporation for Production and Research of Laboratory Primates, Tsukuba, Japan.
authors: Michihiro
authors: M
authors: Suzuki
authors: Department of Advanced Ophthalmic Medicine, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.|Department of Ophthalmology, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.|Department of Retinal Disease Control, Tohoku University Graduate School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
authors: Toru
authors: T
authors: Nakazawa
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008252:Macaca fascicularis; D008297:Male; D015593:Retinal Drusen / Q000097:blood*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers