Lipid-lowering drug and complement factor H genotyping–personalized treatment strategy for age-related macular degeneration

We investigated whether the effect of lipid-lowering drugs (LLD) on age-related macular degeneration (AMD) differs according to the main complement genetic variants in the Singapore Epidemiology of Eye Diseases (SEED) (n=5,579) and UK Biobank (n=445,727). The effect of LLD was determined for each stratum of 20 complement genetic variants. In SEED, 484 individuals developed AMD and 216 showed progression over six years. In the UK Biobank, 913 participants developed AMD over eleven years. rs1061170 variant (Complement Factor H gene) was the only variant for which we found a protective effect in both populations. This effect was found in individuals carrying at least one C allele in SEED (OR=0.41; 95%CI, 0.19-0.87), and in individuals carrying two C alleles in UK Biobank (HR=0.65; 95%CI, 0.45-0.93). These effects corresponded to a 50% and 35% decrease in AMD risk, respectively. Our study highlights the potential for personalized therapy for AMD based on complement genotyping.