VEGF gene polymorphism and response to intravitreal bevacizumab and triple therapy in age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Purpose: To investigate the association between the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) gene and response to either intravitreal bevacizumab (IVB) or photodynamic therapy with intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide and IVB (triple therapy) for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Methods: The study consisted of 94 patients with neovascular AMD who underwent IVB and 79 patients with neovascular AMD who underwent triple therapy. Genotypes were determined for four selected tagging single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP)s of the VEGF gene. Results: Of the four SNPs studied, one SNP (rs699946) was associated significantly with visual acuity (VA) changes 12 months after treatment-irrespective of whether they received IVB alone (P = 0.044) or triple therapy 0.010). Baseline VA was not significantly different among the three genotypes of rs699946 in either treatment group. There were no significant differences in the number of treatments, incidence of recurrence, or the period until the recurrence according to VEGF rs699946 genetic variant. Conclusions: The VEGF gene SNP rs699946 was associated with response to IVB alone and to triple therapy in this study. The G allele in SNP rs699946 can thus be applied as a marker for better visual prognosis in patients with neovascular AMD who receive either IVB or triple therapy. © 2011 Japanese Ophthalmological Society.