AGE-RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS AND TREATMENTS

agerelatedmaculardeg774enerationkapak

CURRENT INVESTIGATIONS IN DRY AGE RELATED MACULAR DEGENERATION

Mustafa Salih Karatepe

Cumhuriyet University,Faculty of Medicine, Department of Ophthalmology, Sivas, Türkiye

Karatepe MS. Current Investigations in Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration. Çıtırık M, Şekeryapan Gediz B, eds. Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Current Investigations and Treatments. 1st ed. Ankara: Türkiye Klinikleri; 2025. p.97-109.

ABSTRACT

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a multifactorial, degenerative disease associated with progressive vision loss. AMD is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in individuals over the age of 55 in developed countries. Dry AMD accounts for 85-90% of all cases. Geographic atrophy (GA), a condition defined by the presence of sharply circumscribed atrophic lesions of the outer retina, is estimated to affect approximately 5 million people worldwide, and its prevalence increases with age. Advanced AMD leads to rapid and progressive loss of central vision and contrast sensitivity, significantly impacting quality of life by limiting the ability to perform daily tasks such as reading, driving, and facial recognition. Patients with AMD report lower activity levels, higher incidences of depression, and higher stress compared to their peers without AMD. The etiology of AMD is not fully known, but oxidative stress, lipid metabolism, and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) dysfunction due to inflammation and complement activation are believed to play important roles in the disease. Current and completed studies investigating treatments for dry AMD show promise in slowing the progression of dry AMD, decreasing the rate of GA lesion growth, and potentially restoring RPE cells. Some medications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), such as Syfovre® (pegcetacoplan) and Izervay® (avacincaptad pegol), have pioneered the development of interventions that can slow or stop the progression of GA, but there is still limited evidence regarding their ability to preserve vision. This section reviews recently approved treatments and current clinical trials to treat dry AMD.

Keywords: Age-related macular degeneration; Geographic atrophy; Retinal pigment epithelium; Complement activation; Pegcetacoplan

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