Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review
Topic: This scoping review aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on the potential involvement of infections in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Clinical relevance: Age-related macular degeneration is a multifactorial disease and the leading cause of vision loss among older adults i...
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| Format: | Article |
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Elsevier
2025-03-01
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| Series: | Ophthalmology Science |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666914524002045 |
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| author | Petra P. Larsen, MD, PhD Virginie Dinet, PhD Cécile Delcourt, PhD Catherine Helmer, MD, PhD Morgane Linard, MD, PhD |
| author_facet | Petra P. Larsen, MD, PhD Virginie Dinet, PhD Cécile Delcourt, PhD Catherine Helmer, MD, PhD Morgane Linard, MD, PhD |
| author_sort | Petra P. Larsen, MD, PhD |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Topic: This scoping review aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on the potential involvement of infections in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Clinical relevance: Age-related macular degeneration is a multifactorial disease and the leading cause of vision loss among older adults in developed countries. Clarifying whether certain infections participate in its onset or progression seems essential, given the potential implications for treatment and prevention. Methods: Using the PubMed database, we searched for articles in English, published until June 1, 2023, whose title and/or abstract contained terms related to AMD and infections. All types of study design, infectious agents, AMD diagnostic methods, and AMD stages were considered. Articles dealing with the oral and gut microbiota were not included but we provide a brief summary of high-quality literature reviews recently published on the subject. Results: Two investigators independently screened the 868 articles obtained by our algorithm and the reference lists of selected studies. In total, 40 articles were included, among which 30 on human data, 9 animal studies, 6 in vitro experiments, and 1 hypothesis paper (sometimes with several data types in the same article). Of these, 27 studies were published after 2010, highlighting a growing interest in recent years. A wide range of infectious agents has been investigated, including various microbiota (nasal, pharyngeal), 8 bacteria, 6 viral species, and 1 yeast. Among them, most have been investigated anecdotally. Only Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B virus received more attention with 17, 6, and 4 studies, respectively. Numerous potential pathophysiological mechanisms have been discussed, including (1) an indirect role of infectious agents (i.e. a role of infections located distant from the eye, mainly through their interactions with the immune system) and (2) a direct role of some infectious agents implying potential infection of various cells types within AMD-related tissues. Conclusions: Overall, this review highlights the diversity of possible interactions between infectious agents and AMD and suggests avenues of research to enrich the data currently available, which provide an insufficient level of evidence to conclude whether or not infectious agents are involved in this pathology. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-431f0ce817224578a31862bce97dbeb4 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2666-9145 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-03-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Ophthalmology Science |
| spelling | doaj-art-431f0ce817224578a31862bce97dbeb42025-01-23T05:27:51ZengElsevierOphthalmology Science2666-91452025-03-0152100668Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping ReviewPetra P. Larsen, MD, PhD0Virginie Dinet, PhD1Cécile Delcourt, PhD2Catherine Helmer, MD, PhD3Morgane Linard, MD, PhD4University of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Bordeaux, FranceINSERM, Biologie des Maladies Cardiovasculaires, U1034, University of Bordeaux, Pessac, FranceUniversity of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Bordeaux, FranceUniversity of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Bordeaux, FranceUniversity of Bordeaux, INSERM, BPH, U1219, Bordeaux, France; Correspondence: Morgane Linard, MD, PhD, INSERM U1219 Bordeaux Population Health Research Center, University of Bordeaux, 146, rue Léo Saignat, Bordeaux Cedex F-33076, France.Topic: This scoping review aims to summarize the current state of knowledge on the potential involvement of infections in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Clinical relevance: Age-related macular degeneration is a multifactorial disease and the leading cause of vision loss among older adults in developed countries. Clarifying whether certain infections participate in its onset or progression seems essential, given the potential implications for treatment and prevention. Methods: Using the PubMed database, we searched for articles in English, published until June 1, 2023, whose title and/or abstract contained terms related to AMD and infections. All types of study design, infectious agents, AMD diagnostic methods, and AMD stages were considered. Articles dealing with the oral and gut microbiota were not included but we provide a brief summary of high-quality literature reviews recently published on the subject. Results: Two investigators independently screened the 868 articles obtained by our algorithm and the reference lists of selected studies. In total, 40 articles were included, among which 30 on human data, 9 animal studies, 6 in vitro experiments, and 1 hypothesis paper (sometimes with several data types in the same article). Of these, 27 studies were published after 2010, highlighting a growing interest in recent years. A wide range of infectious agents has been investigated, including various microbiota (nasal, pharyngeal), 8 bacteria, 6 viral species, and 1 yeast. Among them, most have been investigated anecdotally. Only Chlamydia pneumoniae, Cytomegalovirus, and hepatitis B virus received more attention with 17, 6, and 4 studies, respectively. Numerous potential pathophysiological mechanisms have been discussed, including (1) an indirect role of infectious agents (i.e. a role of infections located distant from the eye, mainly through their interactions with the immune system) and (2) a direct role of some infectious agents implying potential infection of various cells types within AMD-related tissues. Conclusions: Overall, this review highlights the diversity of possible interactions between infectious agents and AMD and suggests avenues of research to enrich the data currently available, which provide an insufficient level of evidence to conclude whether or not infectious agents are involved in this pathology. Financial Disclosure(s): Proprietary or commercial disclosure may be found in the Footnotes and Disclosures at the end of this article.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666914524002045Age-related macular degenerationBacteriaFungiRisk factorsViruses |
| spellingShingle | Petra P. Larsen, MD, PhD Virginie Dinet, PhD Cécile Delcourt, PhD Catherine Helmer, MD, PhD Morgane Linard, MD, PhD Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review Ophthalmology Science Age-related macular degeneration Bacteria Fungi Risk factors Viruses |
| title | Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review |
| title_full | Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review |
| title_fullStr | Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review |
| title_short | Could Infectious Agents Play a Role in the Onset of Age-related Macular Degeneration? A Scoping Review |
| title_sort | could infectious agents play a role in the onset of age related macular degeneration a scoping review |
| topic | Age-related macular degeneration Bacteria Fungi Risk factors Viruses |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666914524002045 |
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