Abstract
Purpose :
To investigate the long-term effects of aerobic exercise on tear meniscus in normal individuals, and explore new treatment strategy for dry eye disease.
Methods :
In this single-center, prospective study, a total of 30 normal adults underwent treadmill exercise training for 30mins twice a week for three months. 30 eyes were enrolled into this study. Upper and lower tear meniscus height(TMH), depth(TMD) and area(TMA) were measured in resting state between 15:00 and 17:00 using swept-source optical coherence tomography, respectively. Breakup time (BUT) of tear film was recorded by Keratograph automatically.
Results :
Upper TMH, TMD and TMA were 0.174±0.006 mm, 0.113±0.006 mm, 0.015±0.001 mm2 respectively after three months, while baseline values were 0.159±0.066 mm, 0.111±0.035 mm, 0.015±0.008 mm2. Lower TMH, TMD and TMA were 0.202±0.052 mm, 0.146±0.056 mm, 0.023±0.009 mm2 respectively, while baseline values were 0.227±0.072 mm, 0.169±0.059 mm, 0.026±0.013 mm2. There was no statistical significance of all the parameters between three months’ follow up and baseline (P>0.05). Compared to baseline BUT of 10.07±4.39 s, BUT at 3 months was 11.29±5.10 s. However, no statistical significance was found between BUT at baseline and 3 months (P>0.05).
Conclusions :
Our findings indicate that aerobic exercise has limited effect on tear secretion in normal individuals. But the long-term effects of aerobic exercise on dry eye disease still need further investigation.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.