Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of gingko biloba extract (GBE) on optic nerve head perfusion examined using ocular coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A).
Methods :
Six patients with a diagnosis of mild primary open angle glaucoma (POAG) were included in this study. POAG diagnosis was based on the clinical assessment, optical coherence tomography (OCT), and visual field defects using the Humphrey Field Analyzer. Patients were included if they had a mean deviation (MD) better than -10 dB, and a best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) better than or equal to 0.3 logMAR. Patients with other ocular diseases, high refractive errors, and history of glaucoma surgery were excluded. Additionally, patients with seizure disorders, on anticoagulation therapy, or on medications with possible interactions with GBE were excluded. The participants received GBE supplementation (a 120 mg soft gel twice a day) for a four-month period. All participants had baseline OCT-A optic nerve head and macula imaging performed on both eyes prior to initiation of GBE. Repeat imaging was performed after completion of the four-month course of GBE. The primary outcome of interest was the difference in perfusion density of the superficial vascular plexus of the macula and the optic nerve head annulus (adjusted by optic nerve head dimensions) before and after GBE supplementation. This study was approved by the institutional research ethic boards and was registered with ww.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04846179).
Results :
Six patients were included in the analysis which were composed of two females and four males. The average age of the participants was 69.3 years. The average baseline BCVA was 0.08 LogMAR. In post-consumption measurements, macular and optic nerve head annulus superficial vascular plexus perfusion density were not statistically significantly higher than pre-consumption measurements (p = 0.3 and p = 0.5, respectively). No significant difference was observed in post-consumption BCVA compared to baseline measurements.
Conclusions :
Our study suggests that four-month supplementation with gingko biloba does not result in a significant increase in perfusion density of the macula and optic nerve head. Larger, comparative studies are needed to demonstrate the effects of GBE supplementation on ocular vascular density and glaucoma disease course.
This abstract was presented at the 2022 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Denver, CO, May 1-4, 2022, and virtually.