ABCA1 and age-related macular degeneration: A possible pathogenic role of excessive cholesterol extraction and IIRC activation in AMD is also supported by the observation of increased APOA-I levels in AMD patients (Paun et al. 2015; Koss et al. 2014), the protective effect of an ABCA1 polymorphism (associated with possibly impaired RCT) (Chen et al. 2010), and clinical studies showing that statins (that inhibit cholesterol synthesis) can accelerate the progression to late AMD (VanderBeek et al. 2013).