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Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of blindness in older individuals. To accelerate the understanding of AMD biology and help design new therapies, we executed a collaborative genome-wide association study, including >17,100 advanced AMD cases and >60,000 controls of European and Asian ancestry. We identified 19 loci associated at P < 5 × 10(-8). These loci show enrichment for genes involved in the regulation of complement activity, lipid metabolism, extracellular matrix remodeling and angiogenesis. Our results include seven loci with associations reaching P < 5 × 10(-8) for the first time, near the genes COL8A1-FILIP1L, IER3-DDR1, SLC16A8, TGFBR1, RAD51B, ADAMTS9 and B3GALTL. A genetic risk score combining SNP genotypes from all loci showed similar ability to distinguish cases and controls in all samples examined. Our findings provide new directions for biological, genetic and therapeutic studies of AMD.

Original publication

DOI

10.1038/ng.2578

Type

Journal article

Journal

Nat Genet

Publication Date

04/2013

Volume

45

Pages

433 - 439e2

Keywords

Biomarkers, Case-Control Studies, Female, Genetic Loci, Genetic Predisposition to Disease, Genome-Wide Association Study, Humans, Macular Degeneration, Male, Meta-Analysis as Topic, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Risk Factors