Immunopathological aspects of age-related macular degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) represents a leading cause of blindness worldwide. While the clinical and histopathological aspects of AMD are well characterized, its etiology and pathogenesis remain unclear. Recent findings suggest a role for immunologic processes in AMD pathogenesis, includ...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Seminars in immunopathology 2008-04, Vol.30 (2), p.97-110
Main Authors: Patel, Mrinali, Chan, Chi-Chao
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Age
Animals
Atrophy
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Biomedicine
Chlamydophila pneumoniae
Humans
Immunology
Inflammation
Internal Medicine
Macular degeneration
Macular Degeneration - immunology
Macular Degeneration - pathology
Pathogenesis
Photoreceptors
Retina
Review
Tumor necrosis factor-TNF
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) represents a leading cause of blindness worldwide. While the clinical and histopathological aspects of AMD are well characterized, its etiology and pathogenesis remain unclear. Recent findings suggest a role for immunologic processes in AMD pathogenesis, including the age-related generation of extracellular deposits inside the Brusch membrane and beneath the retinal pigment epithelium, recruitment of macrophages for clearance of these deposits, complement activation, recruitment of tissue-destructive macrophages, microglial activation and accumulation, and proinflammatory effects of chronic inflammation by Chlamydia pneumoniae . This review discusses the evidence for the role of inflammation in human AMD and in animal models of AMD.
ISSN:1863-2297
1863-2300
DOI:10.1007/s00281-008-0112-9