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A Mechanistic Review of Cigarette Smoke and Age-Related Macular Degeneration

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Retinal Degenerative Diseases

Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 801))

Abstract

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a complex disease stemming from both genetic abnormalities and environmental insults, is the most common form of visual impairment in elderly individuals of the Western world. Many potential etiologies are linked to AMD, but smoking is the leading environmental insult associated with this maculopathy. Smoke-induced damage is mediated in part through direct oxidation, depletion of antioxidants, complement activation, and vascular transmutations. Clinically, these mechanisms manifest themselves as keystones of atrophic AMD: retinal pigment epithelium degeneration, formation of extracellular deposits such as drusen, and thickening of Bruch’s membrane. Furthermore, smoking induces angiogenesis and choroidal neovascularization, advancing the course of the disease to late-stage AMD. Further exploration of the biological processes affected by cigarette smoke exposure will provide greater insight into the pathogenesis of AMD.

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Acknowledgments

The authors thank Christine Curcio for critical discussions. This review was supported in part by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) (R01EY019320), Department of Veterans Affairs (I01 RX000444), Foundation Fighting Blindness, and an unrestricted grant to MUSC from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB), Inc., New York, NY. The authors have no financial conflicts of interest.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Neurosciences, Division of Research, Medical University of South Carolina, 167 Ashley Ave, SEI 614, 29425, Charleston, SC, USA

    Alex Woodell & Bärbel Rohrer

  2. Departments of Neurosciences and Ophthalmology, Medical University of South Carolina, 167 Ashley Ave, SEI 614, 29425, Charleston, SC, USA

    Bärbel Rohrer

  3. Research Service, Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center, Medical University of South Carolina, 167 Ashley Ave, SEI 614, 29401, Charleston, SC, USA

    Bärbel Rohrer

Authors
  1. Alex Woodell
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Correspondence to Bärbel Rohrer .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA

    John D. Ash

  2. University Hospital Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

    Christian Grimm

  3. Cole Eye Institute at the Cleveland Clin Division of Ophthalmology, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Joe G. Hollyfield

  4. Dean A. McGee Eye Inst., University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, USA

    Robert E. Anderson

  5. Beckman Vision Center, University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, San Francisco, California, USA

    Matthew M. LaVail

  6. Department of Ophthalmology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina, USA

    Catherine Bowes Rickman

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Woodell, A., Rohrer, B. (2014). A Mechanistic Review of Cigarette Smoke and Age-Related Macular Degeneration. In: Ash, J., Grimm, C., Hollyfield, J., Anderson, R., LaVail, M., Bowes Rickman, C. (eds) Retinal Degenerative Diseases. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 801. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3209-8_38

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-3209-8_38

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-3208-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-3209-8

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

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