Table 1. Cytoplasmic SQSTM1/p62, ubiquitin and ELAVL1/HuR proteins in foveomacular, perimacular and peripheral RPE cells.

SQSTM1/p62	Macula	Perimacula	Peripheral retina
Sample	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)
1	100	48	0
2	100	64	0
3	92	16	12
4	100	26	36
5	90	7	36
6	100	48	0
7	100	38	24
8	100	22	18
MA; SD (%)	97,8; 4,2	33,6; 19,2	15,8; 15,4
Ubiquitin	Macula	Perimacula	Peripheral retina
Sample	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)
1	15	30	0
2	14	44	9,6
3	64	66	40
4	70	56	26
5	70	26	32
6	64	32	30
7	20	9	7,4
8	16,4	16,8	4
MA; SD (%)	41,7; 27,2	35,0; 19,3	18,6; 15,1
ELAVL1/HuR	Macula	Perimacula	Peripheral retina
Sample	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)	Percentage (%)
1	6,7	8,7	0
2	32,6	0	66,7
3	56,4	100	61,5
4	5,6	36,4	56,2
5	30,4	50	42,5
6	38,3	35,4	27,1
7	0	0	0
8	0	0	0
MA; SD (%)	21,3; 21,1	28,8; 34,9	31,8; 28,9

P-value for SQSTM1/p62 between macular-perimacular and macular-peripheral retina groups is p<0.001. The differences among the three groups for ubiquitin and ELAVL1/HuR are not statistically significant (p>0.1, Mann-Whitney test).

Eight 5 mm long regions from macular, perimacular and peripheral retina were selected from eyes with clinically diagnosed AMD. If the optical nerve was visible, the macular area was selected next to it; if not, a region which contained most drusen was selected. Peripheral regions were selected close to the ora serrata so that it would have as few as possible drusen. The perimacular region was selected between these two so that it would contain few drusen. The extent of cytoplasmic immunopositivity was measured and its percentage in relation to the whole measurement was calculated. The statistical analysis for the results was conducted with a Mann-Whitney test. MA = mean value, SD = standard deviation.