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ANGPTL4 influences the therapeutic response of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration by promoting choroidal neovascularization.

ABSTRACT: Most patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration (nvAMD), the leading cause of severe vision loss in elderly US citizens, respond inadequately to current therapies targeting a single angiogenic mediator, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). Here, we report that aqueous fluid levels of a second vasoactive mediator, angiopoietin-like 4 (ANGPTL4), can help predict the response of patients with nvAMD to anti-VEGF therapies. ANGPTL4 expression was higher in patients who required monthly treatment with anti-VEGF therapies compared with patients who could be effectively treated with less-frequent injections. We further demonstrate that ANGPTL4 acts synergistically with VEGF to promote the growth and leakage of choroidal neovascular (CNV) lesions in mice. Targeting ANGPTL4 expression was as effective as targeting VEGF expression for treating CNV in mice, while simultaneously targeting both was more effective than targeting either factor alone. To help translate these findings to patients, we used a soluble receptor that binds to both VEGF and ANGPTL4 and effectively inhibited the development of CNV lesions in mice. Our findings provide an assay that can help predict the response of patients with nvAMD to anti-VEGF monotherapy and suggest that therapies targeting both ANGPTL4 and VEGF will be a more effective approach for the treatment of this blinding disease.

SUBMITTER: Qin Y

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9310537 | biostudies-literature |

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Project description:PURPOSE: A nonsynonymous coding variant in the manganese superoxide dismutase (SOD2) gene (V16A, rs4880) has been implicated in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). However, the findings have been inconsistent. Two studies in Japanese populations reported an opposite direction of association of the same allele at the V16A variant, whereas one study in a Northern Irish population found no effect of the variant on the risk of developing neovascular AMD. To address these apparently contradictory reports, we validated the association in a Japanese population. METHODS: In a Japanese population, we genotyped the V16A variant in 116 neovascular AMD patients, 140 polypoidal choroidal vasculopathy (PCV) patients, and 189 control participants. This association was also tested in a population of PCV participants to avoid variable findings across studies due to underlying sample heterogeneity and because disease phenotype was not well described in previous studies. We analyzed a tagging single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in addition to the V16A variant to capture all common SOD2 variations verified by the HapMap project. Genotyping was conducted using TaqMan technology. Associations were tested using single-SNP and haplotype analyses as well as a meta-analysis of the published literature. Population stratification was also evaluated in our study population. RESULTS: We found no detectable association of the V16A variant or any other common SOD2 variation with either neovascular AMD or PCV, as demonstrated by both single-SNP and haplotype analyses. Population structure analyses precluded stratification artifacts in our study cohort. A meta-analysis of the association between the V16A variant and neovascular AMD also failed to detect a significant association. CONCLUSIONS: We found no evidence to support the role of any common SOD2 variations including the V16A variant in the susceptibility to neovascular AMD or PCV. Our study highlights the importance and difficulty in replicating genetic association studies of complex human diseases.

Project description:PurposeTo detect and quantify choroidal neovascularization (CNV) in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) using optical coherence tomography (OCT) angiography.DesignObservational, cross-sectional study.ParticipantsA total of 5 normal subjects and 5 subjects with neovascular AMD were included.MethodsA total of 5 eyes with neovascular AMD and 5 normal age-matched controls were scanned by a high-speed (100 000 A-scans/seconds) 1050-nm wavelength swept-source OCT. The macular angiography scan covered a 3 × 3-mm area and comprised 200 × 200 × 8 A-scans acquired in 3.5 seconds. Flow was detected using the split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography (SSADA) algorithm. Motion artifacts were removed by 3-dimensional (3D) orthogonal registration and merging of 4 scans. The 3D angiography was segmented into 3 layers: inner retina (to show retinal vasculature), outer retina (to identify CNV), and choroid. En face maximum projection was used to obtain 2-dimensional angiograms from the 3 layers. The CNV area and flow index were computed from the en face OCT angiogram of the outer retinal layer. Flow (decorrelation) and structural data were combined in composite color angiograms for both en face and cross-sectional views.Main outcome measuresThe CNV angiogram, CNV area, and CNV flow index.ResultsEn face OCT angiograms of CNV showed sizes and locations that were confirmed by fluorescein angiography (FA). Optical coherence tomography angiography provided more distinct vascular network patterns that were less obscured by subretinal hemorrhage. The en face angiograms also showed areas of reduced choroidal flow adjacent to the CNV in all cases and significantly reduced retinal flow in 1 case. Cross-sectional angiograms were used to visualize CNV location relative to the retinal pigment epithelium and Bruch's layer and classify type I and type II CNV. A feeder vessel could be identified in 1 case. Higher flow indexes were associated with larger CNV and type II CNV.ConclusionsOptical coherence tomography angiography provides depth-resolved information and detailed images of CNV in neovascular AMD. Quantitative information regarding CNV flow and area can be obtained. Further studies are needed to assess the role of quantitative OCT angiography in the evaluation and treatment of neovascular AMD.

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ANGPTL4 influences the therapeutic response of patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration by promoting choroidal neovascularization.

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