Takayanagi Yuji, Kadoh Yoichi, Sasaki Junichi, Obana Akira, Tanito Masaki
Department of Ophthalmology, Faculty of Medicine, Shimane University, Izumo 693-8501, Shimane, Japan.
Department of Ophthalmology, Seirei Hamamatsu General Hospital, Hamamatsu 430-8558, Shizuoka, Japan.
Curr Issues Mol Biol. 2024 Jul 3;46(7):6940-6950. doi: 10.3390/cimb46070413.
Carotenoids, having strong antioxidant properties, have been associated with neurodegenerative conditions like dementia and glaucoma, characterized by neuronal loss leading to cognitive and visual dysfunction. Therefore, carotenoids have attracted attention as factors predictive of the onset and progression of these neurodegenerative diseases. However, the impact of carotenoids on cognitive impairment and glaucomatous visual field defects remains unexplored. We conducted a retrospective, observational clinical study to investigate the association between skin carotenoid (SC) levels and cognitive impairment, as screened by the Mini-Cog test, in glaucoma patients. The study included 406 participants and 812 eyes were examined (average age: 69.7 ± 11.4 years; 228 men, 178 women) with various types of glaucoma: primary open angle (57.6%), exfoliation (18.6%), and other types (23.8%). SC levels were estimated via pressure-mediated reflection spectroscopy. Mixed-effects regression models were utilized to examine the relationship between SC levels, visual field defects, and Mini-Cog results. Of the participants, 28 (6.9%) tested positive on the Mini-Cog, suggesting cognitive impairment. The average SC level in the Mini-Cog positive group was significantly lower than in the negative group (269.5 ± 86.4 A.U. vs. 329.2 ± 120.4 A.U., respectively; = 0.01). Additionally, the visual field mean deviation (MD) in the Mini-Cog positive group was notably worse than that in the negative group (-19.64 ± 9.07 dB vs. -12.46 ± 9.28 dB, respectively; < 0.0001). The mixed-effects regression analysis revealed a significant association between Mini-Cog positivity and lower SC levels ( = 0.0006), although SC levels did not significantly correlate with MD ( = 0.3). Our findings suggest that cognitive impairment in glaucoma patients is associated with lower SC levels, underscoring the potential benefits of maintaining carotenoid levels to slow cognitive function decline. The protective role of carotenoids in glaucoma merits further investigation.
类胡萝卜素具有强大的抗氧化特性，与痴呆和青光眼等神经退行性疾病有关，这些疾病的特征是神经元丧失导致认知和视觉功能障碍。因此，类胡萝卜素作为这些神经退行性疾病发病和进展的预测因素受到了关注。然而，类胡萝卜素对认知障碍和青光眼性视野缺损的影响仍未得到探索。我们进行了一项回顾性观察性临床研究，以调查青光眼患者皮肤类胡萝卜素（SC）水平与通过简易认知测试筛查的认知障碍之间的关联。该研究纳入了406名参与者，共检查了812只眼睛（平均年龄：69.7±11.4岁；男性228名，女性178名），患有各种类型的青光眼：原发性开角型（57.6%）、剥脱性（18.6%）和其他类型（23.8%）。通过压力介导反射光谱法估计SC水平。使用混合效应回归模型来检查SC水平、视野缺损和简易认知测试结果之间的关系。在参与者中，28人（6.9%）简易认知测试呈阳性，表明存在认知障碍。简易认知测试阳性组的平均SC水平显著低于阴性组（分别为269.5±86.4任意单位和329.2±120.4任意单位；P = 0.01）。此外，简易认知测试阳性组的视野平均偏差（MD）明显比阴性组更差（分别为-19.64±9.07分贝和-12.46±9.28分贝；P < 0.0001）。混合效应回归分析显示简易认知测试阳性与较低的SC水平之间存在显著关联（P = 0.0006），尽管SC水平与MD没有显著相关性（P = 0.3）。我们的研究结果表明，青光眼患者的认知障碍与较低的SC水平有关，这突出了维持类胡萝卜素水平以减缓认知功能下降的潜在益处。类胡萝卜素在青光眼中的保护作用值得进一步研究。
