Sterile inflammation and age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of legal blindness in elderly individuals in the developed world, estimated to affect 196 million people worldwide by 2020 (Wong et ai, 2014). AMD primarily affects the macular region of the retina that is responsible for the majority of central, colour and daytime vision. The presence of drusen, extracellular protein aggregates that accumulate under the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), is a major pathological hallmark in the early stages of the disease. The end 'dry' and 'wet' forms of the disease culminate in severe vision loss and are characterised by focal degeneration of the RPE and cone photoreceptors, and choroidal neovascularisation (CNV), respectively. Being a multi-factorial and genetically heterogeneous disease, the pathophysiology of AMD remains unclear, yet, there is ample evidence supporting immunological and inflammatory processed. The main focus of this thesis was to explore the role of sterile inflammatory responses in AMD pathogenesis.