Abstract
Purpose:
To elucidate the relationship between body composition and retinal vascular caliber in children.
Methods:
Participants were recruited from the Guangzhou Twin Eye Study. Retinal vascular caliber was measured by a trained grader who was masked to clinical characteristics and body composition data, using a customized software. The data were summarized as the central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE) based on digital retinal photographs. Body composition was assessed by bioelectrical impedance (Tanita TBF-418B analyzer).
Results:
Among 827 participants (12.6±2.93 years in 381 boys and 12.6±3.10 years in 446 girls) included in the analysis, the mean retinal arteriolar caliber was 149.9±13.4 μm and venular caliber was 217.4±19.7 μm. After adjusted for age, gender and mean arterial blood pressure, every 1% increase in body or trunk fat percentage was associated with a 0.13 μm decrease in CRAE (P=0.043 and P=0.029 respectively), while every 1% increase in body water percentage was associated with a 0.21 μm increase in CRAE (P=0.020). Every 1.00 kg/m2 increase in fat mass index was related to a 0.46 μm decrease in CRAE (P=0.048). No significant associations were found between CRVE and parameters of body composition.
Conclusions:
These data suggest that higher body and trunk fat proportion and greater fat mass index and lower body water percentage are associated with smaller retinal arteriolar caliber but not with the venular caliber. The findings suggest that body composition, especially body fat proportion and distribution, might have an effect on retinal microvasculature even during childhood.