@Article{Kubicka-Trząska2017,
journal="Klinika Oczna / Acta Ophthalmologica Polonica",
issn="0023-2157",
volume="119",
number="2",
year="2017",
title="The effect of vascular endothelial growth factor VEGF-A gene polymorphisms and intravitreal anti-VEGF treatment outcomes in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration",
abstract=" Aim : To analyse the correlation between the rs2146323 and rs699947 polymorphisms of  VEGF-A  gene and the risk of age-related macular degeneration and response to anti-VEGF therapy in affected patients.  	 Material and methods : 106 patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration treated with intravitreal ranibizumab or bevacizumab were enrolled. Treatment response was assessed at 4-week intervals for 6 months and was based on the best corrected visual acuity and central retinal thickness compared to the baseline status. The control group included 60 subjects without age-related macular degeneration. Genetic testing (TaqMan Applied Biosystems) was performed in all cases.  	 Results : There was no correlation between the rs2146323 polymorphism of  VEGF-A  gene and age-related macular degeneration; yet, there was a correlation between this polymorphism and anti-VEGF treatment outcomes. Patients with CC genotype of rs2146323  VEGF-A  polymorphism demonstrated significantly better treatment response. At the end of a follow-up, age-related macular degeneration patients with positive CC genotype of rs2146323  VEGF-A  gene polymorphism had final better best corrected visual acuity and showed significant central retinal thickness reduction as compared to individuals negative for this genotype (OR = 2.65, 95% CI (1.17–5.99); p = 0.0171). Among the 25.47% of “non-responders”, genotype CC of rs2146323  VEGF-A  was present in 28.85% of cases, while genotype AC was detected in 61.54% of cases (p = 0.0128).  	There was no correlation between rs699947  VEGF-A  polymorphism and either age-related macular degeneration or response to anti-VEGF treatment.  	 Conclusions : The study showed that rs2146323 and rs699947  VEGF-A  polymorphisms are not associated with increased risk of age-related macular degeneration. However, the rs2146323  VEGF-A  polymorphism modulated the response to anti-VEGF therapy. Genotype CC of rs2146323 was associated with an improved response to anti-VEGF treatment, while patients with genotype AC of rs2146323 showed worse functional and anatomical response to anti-VEGF agents.",
author="Kubicka-Trząska, Agnieszka
and Karska-Basta, Izabella
and Dziedzina, Sylwia
and Sanak, Marek
and Romanowska-Dixon, Bożena",
pages="88--95",
doi="10.5114/ko.2017.71776",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.5114/ko.2017.71776"
}