Is asthma related to choroidal neovascularization?

• Published in: PloS one 2012-05, Vol.7 (5), p.e35415-e35415
• Main Authors: Sun, Yaoyao, Yu, Wenzhen, Huang, Lvzhen, Hou, Jing, Gong, Peihua, Zheng, Yi, Zhao, Mingwei, Zhou, Peng, Li, Xiaoxin
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age; Airway management; Angiogenesis; Animals; Asthma; Asthma - blood; Asthma - complications; Asthma - metabolism; Biology; Blotting, Western; Breast cancer; Chains; Choroidal Neovascularization - blood; Choroidal Neovascularization - etiology; Choroidal Neovascularization - metabolism; Complement activation; Complement C3a - metabolism; Complement component C3; Education; Epidemiology; Female; Fluorescein Angiography; Hospitals; Immunology; Laboratories; Lasers; Leakage; Lesions; Macular degeneration; Medicine; Meta-analysis; Mutation; Neovascularization; Older people; Polyethylene glycol; Rats; Risk Factors; Studies; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - blood; Vascularization
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0035415

Age-related degeneration (AMD) and asthma are both diseases that are related to the activation of the complement system. The association between AMD and asthma has been debated in previous studies. The authors investigated the relationship between AMD and asthma systemically. The epidemiological study showed that asthma was related to choroidal neovascularization (CNV) subtype (OR = 1.721, P = 0.023). However, the meta-analysis showed there was no association between AMD and asthma. In an animal model, we found more fluoresce in leakage of CNV lesions by FA analysis and more angiogenesis by histological analysis in rats with asthma. Western blot demonstrated an elevated level of C3α-chain, C3α'-chain and VEGF. After compstatin was intravitreally injected, CNV leakage decreased according to FA analysis, with the level of C3 and VEGF protein decreasing at the same time. This study first investigated the relationship between AMD and asthma systematically, and it was found that asthma could be a risk factor for the development of AMD. The study may provide a better understanding of the disease, which may advance the potential for screening asthma patients in clinical practice.