Figure 7.

Changes in Ca²⁺ transients activated by plasma from age-related macular degeneration patients, stratified for smoking status (non-smoker vs. smoker). Plasma from five different patients per group was compared, with 30 cells per patient. All patients were matched for age, age-related maculopathy susceptibility 2, and complement-factor H risk alleles. Data are mean ± SD. (A) Ca²⁺ transients are given as differences to the baseline in fluorescence ratio between the two excitation wavelengths 340 and 380 nm; plasma was used in concentrations of 10%. (B, C) Ca²⁺ transient changes at the initial peak phase and the late sustained phase. Plasma from smoking patients induced a significantly higher change in intracellular free Ca²⁺ in the sustained phase compared to plasma from non-smoking patients. The horizontal line represents the mean change in Ca²⁺ transients from baseline. **p < 0.01 (Mann–Whitney U test).