Abstract
Purpose: :
To describe the cross-sectional relationship between metabolic syndrome, its individual components and BMI with retinal vascular caliber in an Asian Indian population.
Methods: :
Retinal photographs from the Singapore Indian Eye Study (SINDI), a population-based survey of 3,400 (75.6% response) persons aged 40 to 80 years, were analyzed for this study. Retinal vascular caliber was measured quantitatively and summarized as central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE) and central retinal venular equivalent (CRVE) using a validated semi-automated computer-based program following a standardized protocol. Data on Metabolic Syndrome and its individual components were collected from all participants. The Metabolic syndrome was defined using a combination of the National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel III report (ATP III) and World Health Organization (WHO) criteria
Results: :
Of the 3,202 participants with retinal vascular caliber data available, the mean (± standard deviation [SD]) CRAE and CRVE were 143.0 ± 14.2 µm (SD) and 208.2 ± 20.2µm, respectively. After controlling for age, gender and smoking, persons with the metabolic syndrome did not show a significant difference with respect to CRAE and CRVE. Narrower CRAE was associated with high blood pressure, absence of diabetes and absence of low HDL-Cholesterol. Wider CRVE was associated with the presence of diabetes (All p <0.01). Each 4.75 kg/m2 (Standard deviation) increase in BMI was associated with a 1.19µm (95% CI, 0.49 to 1.90; p < 0.01) larger CRVE and each 13.60 kg (Standard deviation) increase in Weight was associated with a 0.83µm (95% CI, 0.11 to 1.56; p <0.05) larger CRVE. Each 9.30 cm (Standard deviation) increase in Height was also associated with a 1.16µm (95% CI, 0.11 to 2.21; p < 0.05) narrower CRVE and a 1.05µm (95% CI, 0.31 to 1.80; p < 0.01) narrower CRAE. BMI and weight were not significantly associated with CRAE.
Conclusions: :
In this Asian Indian population, retinal vascular caliber is associated with several metabolic syndrome components including BMI, HDL-cholesterol, hypertension and diabetes and is consistent with previous studies on white and Asian populations. These findings suggest that the metabolic syndrome has an influence on the microvasculature.
Keywords: retina • clinical (human) or epidemiologic studies: risk factor assessment