Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a chronic disease that affects the central zone of the retina—the macula—and causes gradual loss of vision. It is the leading cause of sight loss among people aged over 50.
Current treatments for AMD can only slow the progression of certain forms of this disease. For this reason, preventive strategies are of crucial importance.
Risk factors that offer levers for action include a retinal insufficiency in long-chain omega-3 fatty acids; these lipids are supplied via the diet and notably from fish.
They play an essential role because they assure vision in retinal photoreceptors; they also have anti-inflammatory functions, and limit cell death and abnormal vascular development in the retina, three mechanisms crucial to preventing AMD.
Nutritional approaches based on supplementation with omega-3 fatty acids have been developed to prevent or limit AMD, but an assessment of their efficacy has been hampered by the impossibility of determining fatty acid levels in the retina.
In a new study from Université Jean-Monnet Saint-Etienne and elsewhere, researchers found a blood biomarker that can predict retinal levels of omega-3 fatty acids.
These results open new perspectives for the dietary prevention of risks related to this disease.
In the study, the team analyzed retinas and blood samples from 46 human donors. They were able to identify the blood biomarker for retinal omega-3 fatty acid status using an algorithm developed by machine learning.
They then combined the analysis of retinas from human donors and the data from two population studies.
They were able to show that high levels of the blood biomarker were linked to a lower risk of having an advanced form of AMD, and that biomarker levels rose after omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.
The team says at a very early stage, this biomarker would be able to identify people at risk of developing AMD before it can be detected by ophthalmological examination. Once identified, at-risk individuals could thus receive dietary support.
If you care about eye health, please read studies about this vitamin may help prevent blinding eye disease and findings of a new way to treat blinding eye disease in older people.
For more information about eye disease prevention and treatment, please see recent studies about new eye drops may prevent a common cause of blindness and results showing that this vitamin A analog may help treat diabetes-related eye disease.
The study is published in Clinical and Translational Medicine.
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