Eye Clinic, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Luigi Sacco Hospital, University of Milan, Milan, Italy.
Nutrition Research Centre Ireland, School of Health Science, Carriganore House, Waterford Institute of Technology, West Campus, Waterford, Ireland.
Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2024 Jul 1;65(8):23. doi: 10.1167/iovs.65.8.23.
This study aims to investigate the potential in vivo relationship between macular pigment (MP) and retinal layers thickness in healthy subjects and dry, non-advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
An observational, cross-sectional study was conducted. Healthy subjects >40 years and patients with early or intermediate AMD were recruited. Structural OCT and macular pigment optical volume (MPOV) were collected for each subject. Retinal layers parameters were calculated based on the standard early treatment diabetic retinopathy study (ETDRS) map. Additionally, MPOV within 1°, 2°, and 9° of eccentricity was assessed and associated with retinal layers thickness and volume. Linear mixed-effects models were used to test the relationship between MP and structural OCT parameters, while adjusting for known possible confounding factors.
A total of 144 eyes of 91 subjects (60.4% females) were evaluated, comprising 43% normal eyes and 57% with early/intermediate AMD. Among the retinal layers, only the outer nuclear layer (ONL) thickness and volume appeared to be associated to higher MP levels. Specifically, the central ONL thickness was identified as a significant predictor of the MPOV 1°(P = 0.04), while the parafoveal ONL thickness (inner ETDRS subfield) was identified as a significant fixed effect on the MPOV 9° (P = 0.037). Age and the presence of drusen or subretinal drusenoid deposits were also tested without showing significant correlations.
Among the retinal layers examined, only the ONL thickness demonstrated a significant association with MPOV. Consequently, ONL thickness might serve as a potential biomarker related to MP levels.
本研究旨在探讨健康受试者和干性、非晚期年龄相关性黄斑变性（AMD）中黄斑色素（MP）与视网膜层厚度之间的潜在体内关系。
进行了一项观察性、横断面研究。招募了 >40 岁的健康受试者和早期或中期 AMD 患者。为每位受试者采集结构光学相干断层扫描（OCT）和黄斑色素光体积（MPOV）。根据标准早期治疗糖尿病视网膜病变研究（ETDRS）图谱计算视网膜层参数。此外，还评估了 1°、2°和 9°偏心度内的 MPOV，并与视网膜层厚度和体积相关联。线性混合效应模型用于测试 MP 与结构 OCT 参数之间的关系，同时调整已知的可能混杂因素。
共评估了 91 名受试者的 144 只眼（60.4%为女性），包括 43%的正常眼和 57%的早期/中期 AMD 眼。在视网膜层中，只有外核层（ONL）厚度和体积似乎与较高的 MP 水平相关。具体而言，中央 ONL 厚度被确定为 MPOV 1°的显著预测因子（P=0.04），而旁中心 ONL 厚度（内 ETDRS 亚区）被确定为 MPOV 9°的显著固定效应（P=0.037）。年龄和存在 drusen 或视网膜下 drusenoid 沉积物也进行了测试，但没有显示出显著相关性。
在所检查的视网膜层中，只有 ONL 厚度与 MPOV 有显著相关性。因此，ONL 厚度可能是与 MP 水平相关的潜在生物标志物。
