School of Medicine, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, Milan, Italy.
Division of Head and Neck, Ophthalmology Unit, IRCCS San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
Sci Rep. 2024 Aug 30;14(1):20203. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-70289-7.
There is a lack of knowledge about the effect of flavanols-rich dark chocolate intake on the anatomy and functionality of retinal vessels. The aim of this study prospective, randomized, blind, crossover clinical trial (ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05227248, 07/02/2022) was to evaluate the effect of dark-chocolate intake on the functionality and anatomy of the retinal vessels in healthy subjects using dynamic vessel analyzer (DVA) and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A). Twenty eyes of 20 healthy subjects (mean age, 24.4 ± 1.6 years; 12 females) were enrolled. Participants were randomized to consume 20 g of dark chocolate or 7.5 g of milk chocolate. Visual function, DVA and OCT-A parameters were evaluated before chocolate consumption and two hours later. One week later, the same participants were tested before and after consuming the opposite chocolate. Using OCT-A, no differences were disclosed in terms of perfusion density changes after dark-chocolate and milk-chocolate intake analyzing all chorioretinal plexuses (p > 0.09 in all analyses). Using DVA, a significant increase in the arterial dilation percentage after flicker stimulation was disclosed comparing baseline (2.750 ± 2.054%) with values after the dark chocolate intake (4.145 ± 3.055%, p = 0.016). This difference was not disclosed after the milk chocolate intake (p = 0.465). We disclosed that a reasonable amount of flavanols-rich chocolate in healthy subjects has benefic functional short-term effects in retinal vessels measured with DVA. This suggests a potential role of dark chocolate intake on retinal vessels. Further studies with long-term follow-up are warranted to show if the chronic assumption of dark chocolate could play a favorable role in the prevention of retinal diseases.
关于富含黄烷醇的黑巧克力摄入对视网膜血管解剖结构和功能的影响，目前人们知之甚少。本研究旨在前瞻性、随机、双盲、交叉临床试验（ClinicalTrials.gov 标识符：NCT05227248，2022 年 7 月 2 日）中评估黑巧克力摄入对健康受试者视网膜血管功能和解剖结构的影响，使用动态血管分析仪（DVA）和光相干断层扫描血管造影（OCT-A）。共纳入 20 名健康受试者（平均年龄 24.4±1.6 岁；12 名女性）的 20 只眼。参与者被随机分配摄入 20g 黑巧克力或 7.5g 牛奶巧克力。在巧克力摄入前和摄入后 2 小时评估视力、DVA 和 OCT-A 参数。一周后，同一组参与者在摄入相反巧克力前和后进行测试。使用 OCT-A，在分析所有脉络膜视网膜丛时，摄入黑巧克力和牛奶巧克力后灌注密度变化没有差异（所有分析中 p > 0.09）。使用 DVA，与基线相比（2.750±2.054%），闪烁刺激后动脉扩张百分比在摄入黑巧克力后显著增加（4.145±3.055%，p=0.016）。摄入牛奶巧克力后未显示出这种差异（p=0.465）。我们发现，健康受试者摄入适量富含黄烷醇的巧克力对 DVA 测量的视网膜血管具有短期有益的功能作用。这表明黑巧克力摄入可能对视网膜血管有潜在作用。需要进行长期随访的进一步研究，以证明黑巧克力的长期摄入是否可以在预防视网膜疾病方面发挥有利作用。
