Molecular genetic analysis of ABCR gene in Japanese dry form age-related macular degeneration.

PURPOSE: To explore whether the mutation in the retina-specific ATP-binding cassette transporter (ABCR) gene, the Stargardt's disease gene, contributes to the prevalence of the dry form of age-related macular degeneration (dry AMD) in Japanese unrelated patients. METHODS: Twenty-five Japanese unrelated patients with dry AMD who were diagnosed by fluorescein angiography and indocyanine green angiography were chosen as the dry AMD group. None of these cases had apparent choroidal neovascularization. To detect the mutations in the ABCR gene, genomic DNA was extracted from leukocytes of peripheral blood, and 26 exons of the ABCR gene were amplified by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). All the PCR products were then directly sequenced. When a mutation was detected, the occurrence of a mutation was compared between these AMD patients and the control group. RESULTS: After direct sequencing, a point mutation in exon 29 was found in one of the 25 dry AMD patients. In addition, a polymorphism in exon 45 was found in two other patients, and three sequence variations in exon 23 were detected in all patients. The incidence in AMD patients in whom a mutation in exon 29 (4%) was detected was less than that in controls (5%). Screening of the intron-exon boundaries also led to the identification of intronic mutation in intron 33. CONCLUSION: In this study we found no relationship between allelic variation in the ABCR gene and the prevalence of dry AMD in Japanese unrelated patients.