{
  "abstract": "Purpose: Investigate associations between square root-transformed (SQRT) geographic atrophy (GA) growth rate and longitudinal systemic complement levels in non-neovascular AMD.\n\nMethods: Prospective longitudinal cohort study of patients with GA in the University of Colorado AMD Registry enrolled from August 2014 to September 2022, with ≥1month of follow-up imaging through April 2023. Systemic complement factor level ratios (Bb/Factor B, Ba/Factor B, Factor H, Factor I, C4b/C4, C3a/C3, C3b/C3, sC5b-9/C5) were collected approximately annually. SQRT GA growth rate was quantified on fundus autofluorescence. Correlations between GA growth rate and longitudinal biomarker levels were evaluated using a Bayesian hierarchical joint model.\n\nResults: One hundred fifty-five eyes from 88 patients were included. Average SQRT GA growth rate was 0.27mm/year over a mean of 3.3 years and was positively associated with female sex. Ba/Factor B (correlation [credible interval {CrI}]:0.35, 95% CrI: 0.02 to 0.64), and Bb/Factor B (0.20, 95% CrI: −0.086 to 0.48) demonstrated posterior distributions largely above zero, consistent with a positive association. Posterior distributions for Factor I (−0.08, 95% CrI: −0.35 to 0.20) and C3a/C3 (−0.14, 95% CrI: −0.44 to 0.18) were centered below zero, whereas those for Factor H (0.09, 95% CrI: −0.20 to 0.37) and sC5b-9/C5 (0.09, 95% Crl: −0.19 to 0.37) were centered above zero.\n\nConclusions: Systemic alternative pathway biomarkers demonstrated the strongest positive associations with GA growth rate. The pattern of associations in this exploratory analysis supports a hypothesis-generating framework in which differences in alternative pathway regulation may be associated with heterogeneity in GA progression. Future larger studies are needed for external validation of this hypothesis-generating work.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Sue Anschutz-Rodgers Eye Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO, United States",
    "Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado, Aurora, CO, United States",
    "Departments of Medicine and Immunology, University of Colorado School of Medicine, Aurora, CO, United States"
  ],
  "article_type": "research article",
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 15,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Talisa E. de Carlo Forest"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Nathan C. Grove"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Nicholas Cordaro"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Yoga Advaith Veturi"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        1
      ],
      "name": "Brandie D. Wagner"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Niranjan Manoharan"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Andres Lisker-Cervantes"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Benjamin Bearce"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Steve McNamara"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Anne Lynch"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Jayashree Kalpathy-Cramer"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Alan G. Palestine"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Marc Mathias"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "V. Michael Holers"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Naresh Mandava"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nbnrvfthxhn4.bib",
  "cited_by": 0,
  "doi": "10.1167/iovs.67.12.69",
  "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13722971/",
  "id": "8nbnrvfthxhn4",
  "issns": [
    "0146-0404",
    "1552-5783"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.67.12.69",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "licence_label": "CC BY 4.0",
  "licence_source": "article",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "heading",
      "Retina"
    ],
    [
      "openalex",
      "2731|Retinal Diseases and Treatments"
    ]
  ],
  "openalex": "W7223913102",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13722971",
  "pmid": "42937437",
  "published": "2026-10-27",
  "publisher": "Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nbnrvfthxhn4.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:21:40Z",
      "native_id": "PMC13722971",
      "source": "pmc",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.67.12.69"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "medicine",
      "origin": "openalex:2731|Retinal Diseases and Treatments",
      "subfield": "general"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Latent Correlations Between Longitudinal Systemic Complement Factors and Geographic Atrophy Growth Rate",
  "title_text": "Latent Correlations Between Longitudinal Systemic Complement Factors and Geographic Atrophy Growth Rate",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-04T12:21:40Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/8nbnrvfthxhn4",
  "venue": "Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science",
  "versions": []
}