{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,1,23]],"date-time":"2026-01-23T02:22:09Z","timestamp":1769134929256,"version":"3.49.0"},"reference-count":35,"publisher":"BMJ","issue":"2","funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["82425017"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["82425017"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"the Health and Medical Research Fund Hong Kong","award":["10210236"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["10210236"]}]},{"name":"the Health and Medical Research Fund Hong Kong","award":["11220136"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["11220136"]}]},{"name":"the Endowment Funds from the Lim Por-Yen Eye Genetics Research Centre","award":["N\/A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["N\/A"]}]},{"name":"Direct Grant from the Chinese University of Hong Kong","award":["4054816"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["4054816"]}]},{"name":"Research Matching Grant (RMG) by Hong Kong Government","award":["8601668"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["8601668"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":["bmj.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["Br J Ophthalmol"],"accepted":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,29]]},"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,2]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Purpose<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>There have been conflicting findings on the role of leucocyte telomere length (LTL) in the risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In this study, we evaluated the associations between LTL and the risk of incident AMD and explored whether age, sex and\/or genetic predisposition to AMD can modify these associations.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Methods<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>We conducted a longitudinal cohort study involving 332\u2009123 AMD-free participants with complete baseline covariates and LTL data from the UK Biobank. We employed multivariable Cox proportional hazards models to test the association between LTL and AMD incidence, estimating the HRs and 95% CIs. Genetic risk was assessed using polygenic risk score (PRS).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Results<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>During a median follow-up of 13.63 years, 6754 participants (2.03%) developed AMD. Shorter LTL was not associated with incident AMD risk (HR=1.042, 95%\u2009CI: 0.992 to 1.094; p=0.10) after adjusting for multiple confounders. Sex showed an interactive effect with LTL (p=0.01 for interaction) on incident AMD risk, while age and PRS did not modify these associations. We identified a significant association between shorter LTL and incident AMD risk in females (HR=1.093, 95%\u2009CI: 1.025 to 1.166; p=0.007), but not in males. Moreover, shorter LTL was associated with thinner photoreceptor segments only in females at both baseline and repeated assessments (\u03b2=\u22120.141\u2009\u00b5m, 95%\u2009CI: \u22120.267 to \u22120.016; \u03b2=\u22120.345\u2009\u00b5m, 95%\u2009CI: \u22120.649 to \u22120.041, p&lt;0.05).<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>\n                  <jats:sec>\n                    <jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title>\n                    <jats:p>Shorter LTL increased the risk of incident AMD in females, suggesting LTL as a potential biomarker for AMD development with sex-specific function.<\/jats:p>\n                  <\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.1136\/bjo-2025-327492","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]],"date-time":"2025-09-04T17:20:20Z","timestamp":1757006420000},"page":"166-172","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1136\/crossmarkpolicy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Association of leucocyte telomere length with incident age-related macular degeneration: a prospective UK Biobank Study"],"prefix":"10.1136","volume":"110","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0006-3920-9321","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jun","family":"Yu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Yuzhou","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Mary","family":"Ho","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-7760-6882","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Ka Wai","family":"Kam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Alvin L","family":"Young","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Chi Pui","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4407-6907","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Clement C","family":"Tham","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-2156-1486","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jason C","family":"Yam","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Hong Kong Eye Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3500-5840","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Li Jia","family":"Chen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"},{"name":"Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences, Prince of Wales Hospital, Hong Kong SAR, People's Republic of China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"239","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,4]]},"reference":[{"key":"2026012202151223000_110.2.166.1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"170","DOI":"10.1038\/s43587-021-00166-9","article-title":"Measurement and initial characterization of leukocyte telomere length in 474,074 participants in UK 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