CORRELATION BETWEEN OCT MEASUREMENTS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS BIOMARKERS IN PATIENTS WITH AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

CORRELATION BETWEEN OCT MEASUREMENTS AND OXIDATIVE STRESS BIOMARKERS IN PATIENTS WITH AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION (Abstract): Age-related macular degeneration ( AMD) is a neurodegenerative disease that affects the central retina and is the most frequent cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly population. Aim: to establish correlations between functional and structural changes and oxidative stress markers before and after treatment in patients diagnosed with AMD. We wanted to estimate the association of the oxidative stress with the occurrence of age-related macular degeneration. Materials and methods: This are a case- control study that included a group of 59 patients diagnosed with age related macular degeneration ( 23 dry AMD and 36 exudative AMD), and a control group that included 62 patients. They were followed over a period of 12 months by assessment of optical coherence tomography measurements and oxidative stress markers. The oxidative stress markers included superoxide-dismutase (SOD) and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Results: The mean values of SOD and TBARS were significantly higher in the study group compared to the control group. We observed higher values in patients with exudative form of AMD. Even after treatment, the mean values remained higher than in controls. The standard linear regression analysis of the mean retinal thickness values for each individual test, confirmed that the connection between SOD, TBARS and mean retinal thickness meets the requirements of a valid linear regression and SOD and TBARS can be considered to be predictors. Conclusions: Increased oxidative stress, which causes oxidative damage to lipids and proteins, may lead to irreversible damage in AMD. Investigating the neuroprotection provided by antioxidants against AMD may be helpful to further entrench the significant role of oxidative stress in AMD.