Grant: Operating Grant

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of registered blindness in the elderly of the western world. Each year, 78,000 Canadians are diagnosed with AMD, a number expected to triple within the next 25 year as our population ages. The dry form of AMD comprises over 90% of all cases and a cure as yet to be found for it. A major hurdle for developing a treatment has been the lack of optimal animal models of AMD. The newly developed ELOVL4 transgenic mouse shares similar pathological processes to dry AMD. During the past 2 years of funding by CIHR we have undertaken a detailed analysis of this novel model, which further supports anatomical and functional similarities in the degenerating retinas of ELOVL4 mice and humans with dry AMD. We also have obtained conclusive preliminary results supporting that retina function can be partially preserved by dietary supplementation with DHA (a type of omega-3 fatty acid) in ELOVL4 mice. More exhaustive experiments are required to better understand the mechanisms underlying retina degeneration and the therapeutic effect of DHA in ELOVL4 mice. These experiments must be undertaken before we can consider and optimally plan a large-scale clinical trial of DHA supplementation in dry AMD patients. Since dry AMD is the greatest risk factor for developing wet AMD, then preventing dry AMD is likely to thwart most cases of wet AMD.