摘要 |
A method for diagnosing or prognosticating age-related macular degeneration in a subject, or determining whether a subject is at increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration or monitoring the progression of age-related macular degeneration in a subject, comprising: determining a level, or an activity, or both said level and said activity, of at least one substance which is selected from the group consisting of a transcription product of a Cystatin C gene, a translation product of a Cystatin C gene, a fragment of said translation product, an amyloid protein, and a transcription product of a gene coding for an amyloid protein in a sample from said subject; and comparing said level, or said activity, or both said level and said activity, of at least one of said substances to a reference value representing a known disease or health status, thereby diagnosing or prognosticating said age-related macular degeneration in said subject, or determining whether said subject is at increased risk of developing age-related macular degeneration or monitoring the progression of said age-related macular degeneration in said subject. |