Purpose: To investigate the association between serum complement components and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Patients and Methods: A total of 118 AMD patients and age- and sex-matched 106 control subjects were included. Demographic data and the level of serum complement component (C)1q, C3 and C4 were evaluated. Based on sex, the subjects were stratified into male and female subgroups.
Results: The level of C1q (226.31± 45.33mg/dL) was significantly higher and C3 (121.14± 15.76mg/dL) was significantly lower than that in control group (200.03± 38.54mg/dL) (128.42± 19.81mg/dL) in the female AMD patients (p = 0.005, p = 0.045). Logistic regression showed that increased C1q (OR = 1.132, p = 0.016) and decreased C3 (OR = 0.960, p = 0.048) were independent risk factors for female AMD patients. No statistical significance was observed in the male.
Conclusion: Increased C1q and decreased C3 were associated with increased risk of AMD, suggesting that the complement classical pathway probably be involved in AMD, especially in female.
Keywords: macular degeneration, complement classical pathway, complement component, peripheral blood, case-control study