Association of the Ephreceptor Tyrosinekinase-Type A2 (EPHA2) Gene Polymorphism rs3754334 with Age-Related Cataract Risk: A Meta-Analysis
et al. (2013) Association of the Ephreceptor Tyrosinekinase-Type A2 (EPHA2) Gene Polymorphism rs3754334 with
Age-Related Cataract Risk: A Meta-Analysis. PLoS ONE 8(8): e71003. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0071003
Association of the Ephreceptor Tyrosinekinase-Type A2 (EPHA2 ) Gene Polymorphism rs3754334 with Age- Related Cataract Risk: A Meta-Analysis
Jin Yang 0
Jianfeng Luo 0
Peng Zhou 0
Qi Fan 0
Yi Luo 0
Yi Lu 0
Balraj Mittal, Sanjay Gandhi Medical Institute, India
0 1 Department of Ophthalmology, Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University , Shanghai , China , 2 Department of Health Statistics and Social Medicine, School of Public Health, Fudan University , Shanghai , China
Background: Recent clinical studies have assessed the association of various polymorphisms on the ephreceptor tyrosinekinase-type A2 (EPHA2) with the risk for age-related cataract in populations of different ethnic/racial backgrounds, but inconsistent results have been obtained. Objective: This meta-analysis aimed to identify if any polymorphism(s) might be commonly present in different ethnic/racial populations in association with the age-related cataract risk. Methods: The PubMed and Web of Science databases (up to December 1, 2012) were searched for clinical studies on the association of EPHA2 polymorphisms with the risk for age-related cataract. The polymorphisms that were assessed in all eligible studies were analyzed for their association with the risk for age-related cataract using different models. Results: Three studies were identified, which were conducted, respectively, on white Americans in the Unites States and on Asians in Indian and China. The polymorphism, rs3754334, was the only one studied in all these three studies and was therefore the focus of this meta-analysis. No publication bias or heterogeneity was found. Our analysis results demonstrated that rs3754334 was associated with the risk of any cataracts in the recessive (OR = 1.202, 95% CI: 1.051-1.375, P = 0.007) and Codominant (OR = 1.194, 95% CI: 1.035-1.378, P = 0.015) models, but its association with cortical or nuclear phenotype of age-related cataract was not evident. Conclusion: Polymorphism, rs3754334, might be a variant on the EPHA2 gene that is commonly associated with the risk for age-related cataract in different ethnical and geographical populations.
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Funding: This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), grants (#81270989 and #81200669), and the Research Fund for
the Doctoral Program of Higher Education of China (#20120071120089). None of the authors has any financial conflict of interest to disclose. The funders had no
role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
. These authors contributed equally to this work.
Age-related cataract, also known as senile cataract, is a
condition where cloudy deposits gradually accumulate on the
crystalline lens of the eye in people aged 50 years and over.
Although cataracts can be removed surgically, this treatment
option may not be feasibly available to a large proportion of
patients in resource-limited countries or regions with inadequate
surgical services and high operation costs [1]. Moreover, patient
outcome following cataract surgery varies considerably with the
type of the surgery performed, the performers surgical experience,
and the presence of ocular comorbidities, and environmental and
social conditions [2]. It is therefore not surprising that cataract
remains the leading cause of vision impairment and blindness
worldwide [3]. According to the latest information posted on the
official website of Hellen Keller International (http://www.hki.
org/working-worldwide/asia-pacific/china/) and a recent
editorial article published in New England Journal of Medicine [4],
cataract is responsible for at least 50% of the total (approximately
2.5 million) cases of blindness in China. As Chinas population is
rapidly aging, age-related cataract is becoming an increasingly
significant public health problem in the country.
The development of age-related cataract is a complex process,
involving multiple factors. In the past few decades, extensive
research efforts have been devoted to identifying risk factors and
characterizing their nature and specific roles in the pathogenesis of
age-related cataract worldwide. It is anticipated that identification
and characterization of the major risk factors for age-related
cataract may help doctors adopt individualized preventive and
treatment measures. Although a spectrum of demographic,
environmental, life style-associated, disease-related and
miscellaneous factors have been proposed as risk factors for cataract, no
associations between cataract and these putative risk factors except
for increasing age have been consistently demonstrated [2]. In
2000, Hammond et al. reported the results of their analyses (...truncated)