Complement factor H gene polymorphisms and Chlamydia pneumoniae infection in age-related macular degeneration

Purpose To investigate the association of the complement factor H gene (CFH) Y402H polymorphism and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the Austrian population (Caucasoid descent), and to determine whether there is an association between exposure to Chlamydia pneumoniae —responsible for up to 20% of community-acquired pneumoniae—and the AMD-associated CFH risk polymorphism. Methods Genotypes were determined by polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis in 75 unrelated AMD patients and compared with 75 healthy, age-matched control subjects. C. pneumoniae serum IgG was tested by ELISA (R&D) in both groups. The association between the CFH Y402H genetic polymorphism and the disease was examined by χ 2 -test and logistic regression. Results CFH Y402H genotype frequencies differed significantly between AMD patients and healthy controls (1277 TT, 22.7%; 1277 TC, 53.3%; and 1277 CC, 22.7% in the AMD group; 1277 TT, 48.0%; 1277 TC, 38.7%; and 1277 CC, 13.3% in the control group) showing a P -value