Abstract
Purpose:
The macular pigment optical density (MPOD) potentially quench the free radicals and the reactive oxidative species in the retina and may be protective to the ganglion cells, photoreceptors and retinal pigment epithelial layer. One could postulate that patients with accelerated death of ganglion cells like open angle glaucoma could have decreased level of MPOD due to its pathophysiology. We sought to investigate the level of MPOD in patients with glaucoma and compare it to MPOD in ocular healthy individuals.
Methods:
The MPOD was measured in 82 individuals (44 ocular healthy and 38 glaucoma patients) using the QuantifEye heterochromatic flicker photometer in their dominant eye. The statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the difference in number of males and females, correlation between MPOD & age and evaluate the difference in level of MPOD as a function of age, gender and diagnosis.
Results:
The males to females ratio was significantly different in the glaucoma group versus ocular healthy group (Chi-square test p=0.01) however the level of MPOD did not vary as a function of gender (t-test p =0 39). Overall there was no association between age and MPOD (Pearson correlation r=0.03; p=0.6). The mean MPOD in the ocular healthy group was lesser than the glaucoma group 0.45 (SD 0.16) and 0.56 (SD 0.16) respectively which was significantly different (independent samples t-test t-statistic=-2.87; p=0.005).
Conclusions:
The macular pigment optical density in this study was greater in glaucoma group compared to ocular healthy group. This result contradicts prior published literature (Igras et al Br J Ophthalmol. 2013). Further research is warranted to investigate the reasons for the different findings in these studies to further understand the role of MPOD in glaucoma pathogenesis.