January 5, 2022 – Researchers have discovered a genetic link between the danger of COVID-19 infection and essentially the most common reason for vision loss in people age 50 and older, called age-related macular degeneration.
The results show that COVID and AMD are linked to variations within the so-called PDGFB gene, which plays a job within the formation of recent blood vessels and is related to abnormal blood vessel changes that occur in AMD. The study was published last month in Journal of Clinical MedicineThe evaluation included genetic data from greater than 16,000 individuals with AMD, greater than 50,000 individuals with COVID, and control groups.
Age-related macular degeneration is a vision problem that happens when a part of the retina, called the macula, is broken. American Academy of OphthalmologyThe result’s that central vision is lost, but peripheral vision stays normal, making it difficult to see high quality details. For example, an individual with AMD can see the numbers on a clock, but not the hands.
“Our analysis lends credibility to previously published clinical studies that found that people with AMD are at higher risk for COVID-19 infection and severe disease, and that this increased risk may have a genetic basis,” said researcher Lindsay Farrer, PhD, head of the Department of Biomedical Genetics at Boston University, in a Press release.
Previous research has shown that folks with AMD have a 25% increased risk of respiratory failure or death from COVID, which is higher than other known risk aspects reminiscent of type 2 diabetes (21%) or obesity (13%), the press release said.
