Discovery of potential cause of age-related macular degeneration

Age related macular degeneration or AMD leads to loss of vision in around 1.5 million people in the United Kingdom and millions of others around the world. In a new study researchers have discovered a new protein that could explain the causation and thus provide clues to its early diagnosis and effective treatment. The study was published in the latest issue of the journal Nature Communications.

The researchers from Queen Mary University of London, the University of Manchester, Cardiff University, and Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, collaborated to look at a specific protein called the H-related protein 4 (FHR-4) present in the blood of patients with AMD. They also noted that the levels of this protein were found to be higher among the macular tissues that had been donated by AMD patients for research… Read more.