The pathogenesis of conditions of the eye such as age-related macular degeneration (AMD) could be impacted by gender-based differences in hormone fluctuations.
Newly published data from a team of investigators from Temple University’s Sbarro Institute has found that variations in sex steroid homeostasis have an effect on the physiology of human male retinal-pigment epithelial cells (RPEs), which are impacted by the inflammation caused by AMD.
According to the authors, the data from this study show high clinical significance as it considers these steroid fluctuations as the prompters of locale changes in the retina. These changes then are able to impact the pathological situation that occur along with aging in the non-reproductive systems—like the eye.
“The main goal of our investigation was to define whether male gender can be considered a risk factor in developing age-related retinal disease including AMD,” Antonio Giordano, MD, PhD, the director of the Sbarro Institute at Temple University, and lead author, told MD Magazine. “Estrogens have historically been associated with women’s physiology, however, over the last 2 decades, several studies have shown that these hormones play a fundamental role in men.”
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