Serum VEGF and CFH in exudative age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To determine serum vascular endothelial growth factor 165 (VEGF165) levels and the association of the complement factor H gene (CFH) Y402H polymorphism in patients with exudative age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in comparison to unaffected control subjects. METHODS: Sixty-six AMD patients and 66 healthy age- and gender-matched controls were included in this case-control study. The serum VEGF165 was assayed by ELISA (R&D). Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis. Chi-squared tests were used regarding the polymorphism, a t-test regarding the VEGF-levels. RESULTS: Levels of serum VEGF165 were similar in both groups (p-value = 0.2112). Genotype frequency differed significantly between patients with exudative AMD and the healthy control group (p  =  0.003136). The serum VEGF165 levels were similar irrespective of the presence of the CFH Y402H polymorphism (p  =  0.4113) and independent of the specific genotype (p  =  0.9634). CONCLUSION: In the present study, exudative AMD is not associated to serum VEGF165 levels; furthermore, our data does not establish a statistical link between VEGF165 and the CFH Y402H polymorphism.