Abstract
Purpose :
Macular pigment (MP) is a yellow pigment found at the macula which is made up of lutein and zeaxanthin. The main role of MP is to protect the macula from harmful blue light and reduce oxidative stress. We performed a prospective study of the normative data of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in Indian eyes.
Methods :
This study was approved by the Institutional Review Board and all the methods adhered to the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki. Subjects more than 18 years of age with no ocular pathology other than refractive error were included after taking appropriate consent. VISUCAM 500 (Carl Zeiss, Dublin CA) camera was used with reflectance of a single 460 nm wavelength based on a single blue-reflection image to determine MPOD. It is based on a three- dimensional parabolic function automatically fitted to fundus reflectance at peripheral locations. Maximum optical density, mean optical density, central macular thickness on Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) were calculated. Subjects were divided into 4 age groups (20-30,31-40,41-50 and 51-60 years).
Results :
Total sixty three eyes of 33 subjects were included with mean age of 35.65±10.44 years (range 20-60 years). Mean BCVA was 20/20. The mean refractive error was -0.14±0.66 D, and the mean axial length was 23.09±0.66 mm. The mean central macular thickness was 234.88±18.46 µm The mean and maximum optical density was 0.155±0.068 and 0.054±0.06 respectively. There was no statistically significant difference in both maximum and mean MPOD (p=0.99 and 0.92 respectively) among the age groups. No difference was found between males and females in maximum and mean MPOD (p=0.28 and p=0.65 respectively)
Conclusions :
MPOD remains stable between the age of 20 to 60 years, and there is no difference between the genders in the Indian population. This data would be useful in evaluating MPOD in various macular pathologies, as well as monitor the treatment effects on MPOD.
This is a 2020 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.