Alex Woodell, Beth Coughlin, Kannan Kunchithapautham, Sarah Casey, Tucker Williamson, W. Drew Ferrell, Carl Atkinson, myself and Baerbel Rohrer have a new manuscript out, The Alternative Complement Pathway Deficiency Amerliorates Chronic Smoked-Induced Functional And Morphological Ocular Injury in PLOS One.
The short story is: Don’t smoke. But then you knew that. Where this paper contributes is that it provides clear findings that show ocular pathologies generated by cigarette smoke are dependent upon activation of the immune system, in particular complement and the alternative pathway which are critical findings in the treatment of AMD.
Very nice study Bryan linking the complement system, particularly the AP, to pathologic changes in the RPE/BM complex. Have you given any thought (or know of any studies), on how macular pigments in the human (lutein and zeaxanthin), may provide a protective effect against smoke-induced changes in complement activation and oxidative damage? Just curious.