Abstract
Purpose :
To assess the association of dietary intake levels of saturated fatty acid (SFA) with early age-related macular degeneration (EAMD) in a Japanese population.
Methods :
The Tsuruoka Metabolomics Cohort Study enrolled general population aged 35–74 years from participants in annual health check-up programs including fundus photographs in Tsuruoka, Japan. In this analysis, a total of 4,010 individuals who participated in the baseline survey were included. After excluding non-responders to a dietary survey or participants without optimal fundus image quality, 3,988 participants (median age; 62.4 years old) were included for this analysis. Dietary intake was assessed by a Food Frequency Questionnaire. SFA was adjusted for total energy intake (kcals) by the residuals method. The association between SFA intake quartiles and EAMD was assessed by logistic regression models and is expressed as odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs).
Results :
The median of daily SFA intake was 11.3 g (interquartile range 9.6 g -13.0 g). After adjusted for age, gender and smoking habit, participants in the highest intake quartile of SFA were less likely to have EAMD, compared to the lowest quartile (OR 0.73, 95% CI: 0.54-0.98). A significant trend of decreasing ORs for EAMD associated with increasing SFA intake quartiles was noted (p for trend = 0.017). There was no significant association between poly-unsaturated fatty acid intake and EAMD.
Conclusions :
We found that increase in SFA intake could be associated with reduced EAMD in a Japanese population whose SFA intake level is very low. Prospective studies are needed to confirm this observed association.
This abstract was presented at the 2019 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Vancouver, Canada, April 28 - May 2, 2019.