Osteoprotegerin and Soluble Receptor Activator of Nuclear Factor-Kappa B Ligand in Exudative Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Calcification and inflammation are among the important cases of exudative age-related macular degeneration (e-armd). the aim of the present study was to elucidate if there is any relationship between serum osteoprotegerin (opg), soluble receptor activator of nuclear factor-kappa b ligand (rank-ligand) and e-armd. in a cross-sectional study, we compared 45 e-armd patients with 45 matched controls. diagnosis was confirmed by fluorescein angiography. serum samples were analyzed for opg, rank-ligand, low density lipoprotein cholesterol (ldl-c), high density lipoprotein cholesterol (hdl-c), total cholesterol (tc), and triglyceride (tg). the levels of opg and rank-ligand were measured by elisa methods. the mean age was 72.0±11.5 years in the e-armd group and 68.2±8.9 years in the control group (p=0.09). the level of serum opg was 132.10±75.49 pg/ml in the e-armd group and 94.88±61.65 pg/ml in the control subjects. e-armd patients had significantly high levels of opg (p=0.012), as well as significantly high levels of ldl-c and tc (p=0.001 and p=0.005, respectively). we could not find any significant difference in rank-ligand, hdl-c, or tg between two study groups (p>0.05). to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study investigating the levels of opg in e-armd patients. the present study showed that e-armd patients had high levels of serum opg. it may act as a protective factor for e-armd or only as a secondary phenomenon of different processes of e-armd. further prospective studies would be necessary for prognostic and predictive significance of opg in patients affected by e-armd.