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AMD discovery: New hope for treatment of vision loss
February 21, 2008Scientists have won a major battle in the fight against age-related macular degeneration, or AMD, a blinding eye disease that affects millions of people. An international team, led by researchers at Sainte-Justine Hospital and the Université de Montréal, has identified the deficient receptor that causes the dry form of AMD.
In the February edition of the medical journal PLoS Medicine, the researchers explain how a deficiency of the CD36 receptor prevents the evacuation of oxidized lipids in the eye. Those oxidized lipids in turn accumulate and attack the layers beneath and over the retina - thereby causing vision loss.
"Our discovery has important implications for the development of new therapies," explains lead researcher, Dr. Sylvain Chemtob, who co-authored the paper with Université de Montréal collaborator Dr. Huy Ong, a professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy, as well as Florian Sennlaub of the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) in France.
Chemtob, a neonatal researcher at Sainte-Justine Hospital and a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Pediatrics and School of Optometry, used mice and rat models to pinpoint the scavenger receptor responsible for retinal degeneration typical of dry AMD. "We found that a deficiency in CD36 receptors leads to significant and progressive age-related macular degeneration," he says. "CD36 deficiency leads to central vision loss - a key feature of dry AMD."
"This discovery brings us one step closer to treating dry AMD, which could significantly improve the quality of life of seniors who are most affected by this eye disease," added co-author Dr. Huy Ong. "Now that we have also developed the molecules that activate CD 36 receptor, we are working on the validation of the efficacy of these molecules as potential therapeutic agents for dry AMD treatment with prospect at the horizon of 2015."
Wet and dry AMD remain an alarming cause of vision loss in the western world, which according to the AMD Alliance International, affect 30 million people aged 50 and over. Dry AMD is the most pervasive of the disorders and affects 90 percent of AMD cases.
University of Montreal
Chemtob, a neonatal researcher at Sainte-Justine Hospital and a professor at the Université de Montréal's Department of Pediatrics and School of Optometry, used mice and rat models to pinpoint the scavenger receptor responsible for retinal degeneration typical of dry AMD. "We found that a deficiency in CD36 receptors leads to significant and progressive age-related macular degeneration," he says. "CD36 deficiency leads to central vision loss - a key feature of dry AMD."
"This discovery brings us one step closer to treating dry AMD, which could significantly improve the quality of life of seniors who are most affected by this eye disease," added co-author Dr. Huy Ong. "Now that we have also developed the molecules that activate CD 36 receptor, we are working on the validation of the efficacy of these molecules as potential therapeutic agents for dry AMD treatment with prospect at the horizon of 2015."
Wet and dry AMD remain an alarming cause of vision loss in the western world, which according to the AMD Alliance International, affect 30 million people aged 50 and over. Dry AMD is the most pervasive of the disorders and affects 90 percent of AMD cases.
University of Montreal
Vision Loss Current Events and Vision Loss News RSSCataract surgery does not appear associated with worsening of age-related macular degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration does not appear to progress at a higher rate among individuals who have had surgery to treat cataract, contrary to previous reports that treating one cause of vision loss worsens the other.
Sight gone, but not necessarily lost?
Like all tissues in the body, the eye needs a healthy blood supply to function properly. Poorly developed blood vessels can lead to visual impairment or even blindness.
Clues to visual variant Alzheimer's; myopia and diabetic retinopathy risk
Two studies are of particular note in today's Scientific Program of the 2009 Joint Meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) and the Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO): a report by Swiss neuro-ophthalmic researchers about vision exam clues that should make ophthalmologists suspect an atypical variant of Alzheimer's disease; and new evidence from a Singapore National Eye Center study that diabetics who are nearsighted may be less susceptible to diabetic retinopathy.
Treating ROP in tiny preemies; better glaucoma follow-up in urban clinic
Highlights of today's Scientific Program of the 2009 American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) - Pan-American Association of Ophthalmology (PAAO) Joint Meeting include: John T. Flynn, MD, Columbia University School of Medicine, discussing the ever-tougher challenges Eye M.D.s face in caring for the vision of the tiniest premature babies; and a report by Bradford W. Lee, MD, Stanford University School of Medicine, on barriers to glaucoma follow-up as perceived by patients in an urban, culturally diverse clinic.
First in New York: Bionic technology aims to give sight to woman blinded beginning at age 13
A 50-year-old New York woman who was diagnosed with a progressive blinding disease at age 13 was implanted with an experimental electronic eye implant that has partially restored her vision.
Experimental treatments restore partial vision to blind people
Two experimental treatments, a retinal prosthesis and fetal tissue transplant, restored some vision to people with blinding eye diseases. The findings, presented at Neuroscience 2009, the annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience and the world's largest source of emerging news on brain science and health, may lead to new treatments for the blind.
Cancer drug is no different in effectiveness as gold standard treatment for macular degeneration
Investigators from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) and the VA Boston Healthcare System have shown, at 6 months in a small group of patients, that there is no difference in efficacy between Bevacizumab (Avastin) and Ranibizumab (Lucentis) for the treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
New device finds early signs of eye disease in preemies
Tell-tale signs of a condition that can blind premature babies are being seen for the first time using a new handheld device in a study at Duke University Medical Center.
Topical erectile dysfunction therapy shows promise
An innovative drug-delivery system - nanoparticles encapsulating nitric oxide or prescription drugs - shows promise for topical treatment of erectile dysfunction (ED), according to a new study by scientists at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University.
Study predicts 40 percent increase in blindness in Nigeria by 2020
By 2020, 1.4 million Nigerians over age 40 will lose their sight, and the vast majority of the causes are either preventable or treatable, according to the Nigeria National Blindness and Visual Impairment Study Group.
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