Some thirty to fifty million people around the world have age-related macular degeneration, a disease that claims some or all of a person’s eyesight. Scientists fear that the number of sufferers will double in the coming decade as the baby-boom generation gets older. But Carolina scientists, along with lead investigators at the University of Kentucky, have found what could be a better way to diagnose and treat the condition.
Doctors usually treat macular degeneration with drugs that block a protein called VEGF — vascular endothelial growth factor — which helps abnormal blood vessels grow and attack the eye’s macula. But researchers are concerned that long-term use of these medicines could interfere with normal blood-vessel growth and health. And about two-thirds of patients with macular degeneration don’t even respond to the treatment.
The researchers at Kentucky and Carolina found that blocking a different protein — CCR3 — in mice and in cultured human cells may prevent abnormal growth of blood vessels in the macula as well as or better than anti-VEF agents, but more safely and effectively. The scientists were able to detect the CCR3 protein in early blood- vessel growth, says Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, principal investigator of the UNC study site. This allowed them to prevent structural damage to the retina and prevent loss of vision.
Macular degeneration is the most common cause of blindness worldwide, researchers say, and catching it in its earliest stages can help patients begin treatment early.
This study was published in the journal Nature on June 14, 2009, and was funded by the National Eye Institute. Mary Elizabeth Hartnett, professor of ophthalmology in the School of Medicine, is coauthor and principal investigator of the UNC study site.
