Abstract
Background & objectives: Age related macular degeneration (ARMD) is a leading cause of blindness, particularly in persons above 60 yr of age. Homocysteine is implicated in many ocular diseases including ARMD. This study was undertaken to assess the status and relationship between plasma homocysteine, homocysteine - thiolactone, homocysteinylated protein and copper levels in patients with ARMD. Methods: A total of 16 patients with ARMD and 16 age-matched controls were recruited for the study. Plasma glutathione, homocysteine, homocysteine - thiolactone and extent of homocysteine conjugation with proteins, copper and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances were measured. Results: Homocysteine levels were elevated with increase in homocysteine-thiolactone, thiobarbituric acid reactive substances and a decrease of glutathione. The levels of homocysteinylated protein were elevated in ARMD. The elevated homocysteine, homocysteine-thiolactone correlated with the decrease in copper level. Interpretation & conclusions: Elevated homocysteine and its metabolite homocysteine-thiolactone and decreased levels of copper may play an important role in the pathogenesis of ARMD.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 756-762 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Indian Journal of Medical Research |
| Volume | 143 |
| Issue number | 6 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jun 2016 |
Bibliographical note
© 2016, Indian Council of Medical Research.This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 License, which allows others to remix, tweak, and build upon the work non-commercially, as long as the author is credited and the new creations are licensed under the identical terms.Keywords
- Age-related macular degeneration
- Copper
- Glutathione
- Homocysteine
- Homocysteine-thiolactone
- Oxidative stress