Evidence map›Paper›PMID 39501348›Full record

ArticleEye and vision (London, England)2024

Levodopa is associated with reduced development of new-onset geographic atrophy in patients with age-related macular degeneration.

Kyle S Chan, Nitika Aggarwal, Shannon Lawson, Nick Boucher, Mathew W MacCumber, Jeremy A Lavine

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Eye and vision (London, England), 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Zinc in eye health, retinal biology and disease.Progress in retinal and eye research · 2025
    Review
  3. Article
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors.

Kyle S ChanDepartment of Ophthalmology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA.
Nitika AggarwalVestrum Health, Naperville, USA.
Shannon LawsonVestrum Health, Naperville, USA.
Nick BoucherVestrum Health, Naperville, USA.
Mathew W MacCumberDepartment of Ophthalmology, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
Jeremy A LavineDepartment of Ophthalmology, Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL, USA. jeremy.lavine@northwestern.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0884-1336

Funding

Investigating the function and mechanism of interleukin 7 receptor-expressing pro-angiogenic macrophages during experimental choroidal neovascularizationR01EY034486 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI Jeremy A Lavine · 2023 to 2026
$1.6M
The role of beta2-adrenergic receptor and interleukin-6 signaling in macrophage-driven choroidal neovascularizationK08EY030923 · NEI · NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY AT CHICAGO · PI LAVINE, JEREMY A · 2020 to 2024
$972k
NEI NIH HHS EY030923NEI NIH HHS EY034486NEI NIH HHS K08 EY030923NEI NIH HHS R01 EY034486Research to Prevent Blindness Sybil B. Harrington Career Development Award for Macular DegenerationResearch to Prevent Blindness Unrestricted Departmental Grant
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundGeographic atrophy (GA) is a significant cause of vision loss in patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Current treatments are limited to anti-complement drugs, which have limited efficacy to delay progression with significant risk of complications. Levodopa (L-DOPA) is a byproduct of melanin synthesis that is associated with reduced development of neovascular AMD. In this study, we determined if L-DOPA was associated with a reduced likelihood of new-onset GA.

methodsWe performed a retrospective analysis in the Vestrum Health Retina Database. We included eyes with non-neovascular AMD without GA and 1-5 years of follow-up. Eyes were divided into two groups. Exposed to L-DOPA before or on the date of non-neovascular AMD without GA diagnosis, and eyes not exposed to L-DOPA. We extracted age, sex, AREDS2 status, dry AMD stage, smoking history, and conversion rate to GA at years 1 through 5. Propensity score matching was used to match L-DOPA and control groups. Cox proportional hazard regression, adjusting for age, sex, AMD severity, AREDS2 use, smoking status, and L-DOPA use was employed to calculate hazard ratios for new-onset GA detection.

resultsWe identified 112,089 control and 844 L-DOPA exposed eyes with non-neovascular AMD without GA. After propensity score matching, 2532 control and 844 L-DOPA exposed eyes remained that were well-matched for age, sex, AMD severity, AREDS2 use, and smoking status. We found that L-DOPA exposure was associated with a significantly reduced likelihood (HR = 0.68, 95% CI: 0.48-0.95, P = 0.025) of new-onset GA detection.

conclusionL-DOPA use was associated with reduced detection of new-onset GA.

Indexed as

Age-related macular degenerationGeographic atrophyL-DOPALevodopa

Identifiers

PMID39501348
PMCPMC11539668

What Socratic holds

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Registered trials

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.