TY - JOUR T1 - Interleukin-8 promoter polymorphism −251A/T is a risk factor for age-related macular degeneration JF - British Journal of Ophthalmology JO - Br J Ophthalmol SP - 537 LP - 540 DO - 10.1136/bjo.2007.123190 VL - 92 IS - 4 AU - S V Goverdhan AU - S Ennis AU - S R Hannan AU - K C Madhusudhana AU - A J Cree AU - A J Luff AU - A J Lotery Y1 - 2008/04/01 UR - http://bjo.bmj.com/content/92/4/537.abstract N2 - Background/aims: To determine whether four expression-related cytokine polymorphisms are associated with age-related macular degeneration (AMD).Methods: DNA from 478 cases with AMD and 555 normal controls was genotyped for the pro-inflammatory IL1β −511C/T, IL6 −174C/G, IL8 −251A/T and anti-inflammatory IL10 −1082G/A cytokine polymorphisms using the 5′ nuclease TaqMan® assay for allelic discrimination. Associations with AMD were analysed using allelic frequencies.Results: The −251A allele of the IL8 promoter gene polymorphism was more prevalent in AMD patients than controls (p = 0.037, OR = 1.21, 95% CI = 1.01 to 1.44). Adjusting for age, sex, body mass index (BMI), current smoking and past smoking status did not alter the AMD association significantly (corrected p value = 0.043, OR = 1.23, 95% CI = 1.0 to 1.50).Conclusion: The pro-inflammatory homozygous IL8 –251AA genotype is an important risk factor for AMD. This may have implications for future therapy with biological agents that could target this cytokine. ER -