Abstract [View PDF] [Read Full Text]
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the leading cause of central vision loss among people aged 50 years and older, is one of the major eye diseases causing blindness in the world. Clinically, advanced AMD is divided into two types, non-exudative AMD with manifestation of geographic atrophy and exudative AMD with manifestation of choroidal neovascularization.The pathogenesis of AMD is complex, and the para-inflammation is recognized as an important risk factor.Nucleotide-binding oligomerization domain like receptors 3 (NLRP3) inflammasome is a cytoplasmic pattern recognition receptor and is expressed in several kings of cells, including retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells, microglial cells, Müller glia cells and retinal vascular endothelial cells.Recent studies have suggested that NLRP3 inflammasome plays an important role in the pathophysiology of both non-exudative and exudative AMD.The role of the NLRP3 inflammasome and its effector cytokines interleukin (IL)-1β and IL-18 in AMD were reviewed in this article to provide guidance on future prevention and therapy of AMD.
Key words:
Contributor Information
Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
Chen Lu is now working at the Department of Ophthalmology, The Affiliated Xuzhou First People’s Hospital of Xuzhou Medical University, Xuzhou 221002, China
Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China
Department of Ophthalmology, the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing 210029, China