Polymorphisms in Complement Factor H and Hemicentin-1 genes in a Japanese population with dry-type age-related macular degeneration

PURPOSE: To determine whether polymorphisms in the Complement Factor H (CFH) gene and the Hemicentin-1 gene at the ARMD1 locus are associated with dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in Japanese patients. DESIGN: Clinically relevant laboratory investigation. METHODS: Eighty unrelated Japanese patients with dry AMD and 196 Japanese control patients were studied. Two exons of the CFH gene and four exons of the Hemicentin-1 gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction and sequenced directly. RESULTS: For the CFH gene, the frequency of the previously reported Tyr402His variant was not significantly higher in the AMD group than in the control group (P = .31). In the Hemicentin-1 gene, three sequence alterations (Asp5088Val, IVS99-13C/T, and His5245Gln) were detected, and the originally reported Gln5346Arg was not detected. CONCLUSION: The CFH gene and Hemicentin-1 genes do not appear to be involved in a statistically significant fraction of dry AMD cases in the Japanese population.