Authors of an international study of 38,694 European adults found the use of antidiabetic and lipid-lowering drugs (LLD) is associated with reduced prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in the general population.

Metformin and LLD rank among the top prescribed drugs in Germany, Europe and the US, with various LLDs reported to have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, which also play a role in AMD pathogenesis, said researchers. The pooled data analysis showed that drugs to lower cholesterol or control diabetes were associated with 15% and 22%, respectively, lower prevalence of any type of AMD, after accounting for potentially influential factors. No such associations were found for any of the other types of drug or for advanced AMD, said researchers, noting, however, that there were only a relatively small number of such cases.

While previous studies have had inconsistent results on the association of AMD and LLD, this is the first study which analysed individual level data from various population-based and hospital-based studies, instead of meta-analysing published aggregated results only, they said.

The full open-access study was published in the British Journal of Ophthalmology.