The reduction of serum soluble Flt-1 in patients with neovascular age-related macular degeneration

Purpose To evaluate serum soluble Flt-1 (sFlt-1) in age-related macular degeneration (AMD) patients. Design Case-control study. Methods Study involved 56 non-AMD participants, 53 early AMD patients, and 97 neovascular AMD patients from Belfast in Northern Ireland. Serum samples were collected from each patient. Serum sFlt-1 was measured by human sVEGFR1/sFlt-1 ELISA kit. The results were analyzed by Excel and SPSS. Results Serum sFlt-1 concentration of non-AMD, early AMD, and neovascular AMD were 90.8 ± 2.9 pg/mL (±standard error of the mean), 88.2 ± 2.6 pg/mL, and 79.9 ± 2.2 pg/mL. sFlt-1 from neovascular AMD patients was significantly decreased compared to non-AMD and early AMD patients (ANOVA, P P  = .002) and 27.0%, OR = 0.730 (95% CI: 0.594–0.898, P  = .003), respectively. In patients over 73 years of age, serum sFlt-1 6-fold higher risk of neovascular AMD. Conclusions Reduced serum sFlt-1 differentiates those patients with neovascular AMD from both early AMD and non-AMD participants. In those aged over 73, serum sFlt