THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN STATIN THERAPY AND AGE- RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION – A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
ANA MARIA DASCALU 1#, CRISTINA ALEXANDRESCU 1, GETA VANCEA 1#, DANIELA STANA 2, DANIEL OVIDIU COSTEA 3*, ANCA ZGURA 1#, DRAGOS SERBAN 1, DAN DUMITRESCU 1, MIHAIL SILVIU TUDOSIE 1, CRENGUTA SORINA SERBOIU 1, LAURA CARINA TRIBUS 4, CORNELIU TUDOR 1, DAN GEORGIAN BRATU 5, CATALIN ALIUS 1, IRINA SHEVCHENKO 1, BOGDAN MIHAI CRISTEA 1
1Faculty of Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania
2Ophthalmology Department, Emergency University Hospital Bucharest, Romania
3Faculty of Medicine, “Ovidius” University Constanța, Romania
4Faculty of Dental Medicine, “Carol Davila” University of Medicine and Pharmacy Bucharest, Romania
5Faculty of Medicine, “Lucian Blaga” University Sibiu, Romania
Download Full Article PDF
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness and visual impairment worldwide. Statins were analysed for their potential therapeutic action, based on lipid-lowering, as well as their pleiotropic effects. A systematic review was performed on PubMed and Web of Science databases to document correlations between statins and AMD. A total of 20 studies, including 1268741 persons, aged 40 years and more were analysed. Six studies found a decreased incidence of AMD in statin-treated patients, while 9 found no effect of statin therapy in the overall incidence and prevalence of AMD. However, in subgroup analysis, certain subtypes of AMD proved to benefit from statin medication, delaying the progression to choroidal neovascularization (CNV). Furthermore, two interventional studies on a small number of patients found encouraging results in AMD associated with large soft drusen, improving clinical features and visual acuity. Further researches are needed to confirm the specific indications of statins in AMD. Clinical availability of topic administration could prevent the potential side effects of statins and increase their therapeutic effect.
