Cardiovascular peptide markers are associated with age-related macular degeneration in the Bialystok PLUS general population cohort.

“Cardiovascular peptide markers are associated with age-related macular degeneration in the Bialystok PLUS general population cohort. Budnik A(1), Tuchliński J(2), Lisowski Ł(1), Michnowska-Kobylińska M(1), Dmuchowska DA(1), Chlabicz M(3)(4)(5), Szpakowicz A(2), Dubatówka M(3), Kondraciuk M(3), Kamiński K(2)(3)(4), Konopińska J(6). Author information: (1)Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. (2)Department of Cardiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. (3)Population Research Centre, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. (4)Department of Population Medicine and Lifestyle Diseases Prevention, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. (5)Department of Invasive Cardiology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. (6)Department of Ophthalmology, Medical University of Bialystok, Bialystok, Poland. joannakonopinska@o2.pl. Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cardiovascular disease (CVD) share numerous risk factors; however, protein biomarkers for AMD are lacking. We investigated whether circulating cardiovascular peptide biomarkers are associated with AMD in the population-based Białystok PLUS cohort. This cross-sectional analysis included 699 participants aged ≥ 50 years (AMD + = 93; AMD⁻ = 606) examined between 2018 and 2023. AMD was graded from fundus photos with the use of the Wisconsin and modified International Classification systems. Ninety-two cardiovascular proteins were quantified in serum with the Olink Target Cardiovascular III panel. Age-adjusted linear or logistic regressions assessed biomarker-AMD associations, and receiver-operating-characteristic (ROC) curves evaluated discriminative performance. After adjustment, AMD+ participants exhibited lower galectin-4 (β = - 0.15, p = 0.043) and TNF-receptor-superfamily-member-10 C (TNFRSF10C) (β = - 0.17, p = 0.037) concentrations and higher von Willebrand factor (vWF) levels (β = 0.22, p = 0.036) versus AMD⁻ individuals. Galectin-4, TNFRSF10C, and vWF predicted AMD with areas under the ROC curve of 0.613 (95% confidence interval [CI] 0.516-0.709), 0.606 (0.520-0.692), and 0.594 (0.500-0.687), respectively. Optimal cut-offs were 4.05 NPX for galectin-4, 5.09 NPX for TNFRSF10C, and 8.03 NPX for vWF, yielding sensitivities/specificities of 57%/63%, 58%/62% and 55%/63%, respectively. Elevated vWF and reduced galectin-4 and TNFRSF10C are independently associated with AMD, suggesting overlapping vascular, inflammatory and apoptotic pathways with CVD. Incorporation of these peptides into risk-stratification algorithms could enhance early AMD detection and motivate mechanistic studies targeting the TRAIL-TNFRSF10C axis and galectin-mediated signaling. © 2026. The Author(s). Conflict of interest statement: Declarations. Competing interests: The authors declare no competing interests. Patient consent statement: Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study. Ethics statement: This study was approved by the Ethics Committee on Medical University of Bialystok (approval number: R-I-002/108/2016).”