Ophthalmic Research Center, Labbafinejad Medical Center, Tehran, Iran Recent developments in pharmacotherapy for retinal disorders may be considered as a turning point in ophthalmology. The introduction of new therapies for devastating conditions such as age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD), the main cause of irreversible blindness in the elderly, stemmed from the tremendous work by Folkman and colleagues who identified the pivotal role of the vascular endothelial grow factor (VEGF) in angiogenesis. Later it was revealed that among the different subtypes of vascular endothelial grow factor, VEGF-A plays a key role in inducing angiogenesis in neovascular AMD.

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in old subjects. It is a multifactorial disease with both environmental and genetic factors playing some role in its pathogenesis. Similar to many other genetic diseases, the inheritance pattern of AMD does not fit into simple mendelian rules. These diseases are caused by the presence of multiple genetic factors and are called complex diseases. There has been extensive research on the role of genetic factors in the pathogenesis of this complex disease in the last few years. We review the methods of genetic research and their advantages and disadvantages in complex diseases such as AMD. Following that, candidate genes and their probable role in the pathogenesis of the disease are described. Finally, we discuss two important genes in the pathogenesis of the disease i.e. complement factor H and the gene for locus LOC387715.