The Complex Role of Immune Cells in Age-Related Eye Disease: Which? How?

Abstract

Abstract Background With the study of the eye as a specialized immune region, there is increasing evidence of the important role of immune cells for eye function. There is also an important association between immune cells and age-related eye disease (AED), but this association remains difficult to identify due to limitations of previous studies.Methods We overcame the limitations of previous studies by a novel approach (Mendelian Randomization) to investigate the effects of all 731 immune cells on common AEDs. The three approaches were used to jointly screen for trustworthy results, and then heterogeneity and horizontal pleiotropy tests were used to ensure the reliability of the results. Finally, inverse analysis was used to look for possible inverse effects. Finally, reverse MR analysis is used to look for possible reverse effects.Results Four, five, and six immune cell types have been found to be associated with cataract, glaucoma, and age-related macular degeneration separately, and the associations are both protective and risk factors. Heterogeneity analyses indicated the presence of heterogeneity, so we appropriately moderated the screening method, which combined with the results of horizontal pleiotropy together ensured the stability of the results. Reverse MR analysis did not find a reverse effect and avoided confounding due to reverse causation.Conclusion Our results uncovered associations between several classes of immune cells and common AEDs, with future potential as markers for diagnosis and treatment.