Rheumatology meds seen cutting AMD risk – Vista Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired

Key Takeaways

Insurance claims data showed that patients with autoimmune disorders who took Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors had lower rates of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), hinting that the drugs might treat the common eye disease.
However, the study has a number of limitations, including small sample size and the inability to generalize the results to patients who do not have inflammatory or autoimmune diseases.

Insurance claims data showed that patients with autoimmune disorders who took Janus kinase (JAK) inhibitors had lower rates of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), hinting that the drugs might treat the common eye disease. Compared to patients on other immune-modulating drugs, those taking JAK inhibitors had lower rates of AMD over 6-18 months in two administrative databases: by about half in a MarketScan cohort and by nearly three-quarters in an Optum cohort, according to Nizar Smaoui, MD, of AbbVie in North Chicago, Illinois, and colleagues. Absolute reductions in risk were 0.36% and 0.32%, respectively, the group reported in JAMA Ophthalmology.

“These results provide supporting evidence of a link between JAK inhibitors and reduced incidence of AMD,” Smaoui told MedPage Today. “However, further research and clinical studies are required to confirm this retrospective study.” (A r etrospective study is performed using information on events that have taken place in the past, e.g., by examining medical records.) The authors also note that “it is not possible to generalize the study findings to populations who do not have inflammatory or autoimmune diseases.”

Sumit Sharma, MD, of the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, who has researched JAK inhibitors for uveitis but didn’t take part in the new study, told MedPage Today that the findings are interesting. But he cautioned that the implications are limited because of the small population size. He advised that ophthalmologists shouldn’t prescribe JAK inhibitors now because they have a high risk of side effects. He added that JAK inhibitors in their current form are unlikely to go into clinical trials in AMD. Instead, he said, the medications may be delivered via eye injection, or new drugs could be developed that target the JAK/STAT pathway.

Edited by Miriam Kaplan, PhD

Source: Randy Dotinga, MedPage Today, July 11, 2024; see source article