Age-related macular degeneration has a strong epidemiological association with cardiovascular disease. One pathogenic hypothesis that applies to both diseases is the concept of an abnormal cellular response to injury resulting in a disease phenotype. It has been hypothesized that this phenotype is also present in dermal fibroblasts. This study tests this hypothesis by examination of the expression profiles of fibroblasts obtained from diseased patients and subjected to sublethal cell injury.
