UAB Researchers Probe Link Between Statin Use and Macular Degeneration

A new study from UAB indicates that patients who take cholesterol-inhibiting drugs known as statins are less likely to develop symptoms of age-related maculopathy (ARM), better known as macular degeneration. The findings suggest a possible association between ARM and cardiovascular disease. In a study reported in the September issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, individuals with a new diagnosis of ARM were 70 percent less likely to have filled a prescription for statins than a control group.

August 18, 2003

BIRMINGHAM, AL — A new study from UAB indicates that patients who take cholesterol-inhibiting drugs known as statins are less likely to develop symptoms of age-related maculopathy (ARM), better known as macular degeneration. The findings suggest a possible association between ARM and cardiovascular disease. In a study reported in the September issue of the British Journal of Ophthalmology, individuals with a new diagnosis of ARM were 70 percent less likely to have filled a prescription for statins than a control group.

“The overlap in risk factors for cardiovascular disease and ARM, such as smoking, high cholesterol and high blood pressure, is an indication that the two conditions have similar pathways,” says Gerald McGwin, Ph.D., assistant professor of ophthalmology at UAB and co-author of the study. “If ARM and cardiovascular disease share common mechanisms, it is possible that there exists a protective association between the use of cholesterol lowering drugs and ARM.”

The team evaluated 550 individuals with a diagnosis of ARM and matched them to 5,500 control subjects, all older male patients at the Birmingham Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

The prominent lesions in ARM are located in Bruch’s membrane, a layer of tissue in the eye that separates photoreceptors and their support cells, the retinal pigment epithelium, from their blood supply. These lesions and Bruch’s membrane contain abundant lipids, including cholesterol, indicating a shared common mechanism at the level of the vessel wall.

“Statins are used to help reduce low density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels by inhibiting cholesterol production and increasing LDL cholesterol removal from plasma,” says study co-author Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology. “If cholesterol is a common pathway for the development for cardiovascular disease and for ARM, then statin use may decrease ARM risk.”

“This study suggests that patients with ARM were less likely to have filled a statin prescription and thus less likely to have used statins to control cholesterol levels,” says Christine Curcio, Ph.D., professor of ophthalmology and a study co-author.  “Further research is necessary to further understand the pathophysiology of ARM and the precise role, if any, of cholesterol. We also need to evaluate the effect of statins in lowering the risk and/or rate of progression of ARM.”

ARM is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss in older adults in America.  There is no effective treatment for ARM or for slowing its progression in the early stages. One of every three people over the age of 75 will be affected by ARM.

This research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health, Research to Prevent Blindness, Inc. and the Eyesight Foundation of Alabama. Study co-author Cynthia Owsley, Ph.D., is a Research to Prevent Blindness Senior Scientific Investigator.  Co-author Christine Curcio, Ph.D., is a Lew R. Wasserman Merit Scholar of Research to Prevent Blindness.

NOTE: We are the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Please use UAB on second reference. We are not to be confused with the University of Alabama, which is a separate, independent campus.