Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2006 Jun;47(6):2341-50.
doi: 10.1167/iovs.05-1539.

Retinal vascular caliber, cardiovascular risk factors, and inflammation: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

Tien Yin Wong  1 , F M Amirul Islam, Ronald Klein, Barbara E K Klein, Mary Frances Cotch, Cecilia Castro, A Richey Sharrett, Eyal Shahar
Affiliations

Retinal vascular caliber, cardiovascular risk factors, and inflammation: the multi-ethnic study of atherosclerosis (MESA)

Tien Yin Wong et al. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. 2006 Jun.

Abstract

Purpose: To describe the relationship of retinal arteriolar and venular caliber with cardiovascular risk factors, including inflammatory biomarkers, in a multiethnic population of whites, blacks, Hispanics, and Chinese.

Methods: A cross-sectional study comprising 5979 persons aged 45 to 84 years residing in six U.S. communities. Retinal vascular caliber was measured and summarized from digital retinal photographs. Standard cardiovascular risk factors, including biomarkers of inflammation (e.g., high-sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], interleukin [IL]-6, and plasma fibrinogen) and endothelial dysfunction (e.g., soluble intercellular adhesion molecule [sICAM]-1 [, plasminogen activator inhibitor [PAI]-1) were assessed.

Results: Mean retinal arteriolar caliber was 144.1+/-14.4 (SD) microm, and venular caliber 214.0+/-22.2 microm. In models controlling for age, gender, race-ethnicity, and center, smaller retinal arteriolar caliber was related to higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure, hypertension status, current alcohol consumption, greater body mass index, and higher levels of total homocysteine; larger retinal arteriolar caliber was related to diabetes, current cigarette smoking, and higher levels of plasma fibrinogen; and larger retinal venular caliber was related to diabetes, current cigarette smoking, greater body mass index and waist-hip ratio, higher levels of serum glucose, plasma triglyceride, plasma LDL-cholesterol, hsCRP, plasma fibrinogen, IL6, sICAM-1, and PAI-1 and lower levels of HDL-cholesterol. In multivariate analyses, blacks and Hispanics had larger retinal arteriolar and venular calibers than did whites and Chinese.

Conclusions: Retinal arteriolar and venular caliber is associated with a range of cardiovascular risk factors, including hypertension, diabetes, measures of obesity, and dyslipidemia. Venular caliber is also associated with systemic inflammation.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Distribution of retinal arteriolar diameter (right), venular diameter (middle), and AVR (left), by racial-ethnic group. Data are mean micrometers and 95% CI.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Relationship of retinal arteriolar caliber (top) and venular caliber (bottom) with systolic blood pressure. Data are mean (micrometers) and 95% CI.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Wong TY, Klein R, Klein BEK, et al. Retinal microvascular abnormalities, and their relation to hypertension, cardiovascular diseases and mortality. Surv Ophthalmol. 2001;46:59–80. - PubMed
    1. Wong TY, Mitchell P. Hypertensive retinopathy. N Engl J Med. 2004;351:2310–2317. - PubMed
    1. Wong TY, Klein R, Couper DJ, et al. Retinal microvascular abnormalities and incident strokes. The Atherosclerosis Risk in the Communities Study. Lancet. 2001;358:1134–1140. - PubMed
    1. Wong TY, Klein R, Sharrett AR, et al. Retinal arteriolar narrowing and incident coronary heart disease in women and men. The Atherosclerosis Risk in the Communities Study. JAMA. 2002;287:1153–1159. - PubMed
    1. Duncan BB, Wong TY, Tyroler HA, Davis CE, Fuchs FD. Hypertensive retinopathy independently predicts coronary heart disease. The Lipids Research Clinics Coronary Primary Prevention Trial. Br J Ophthalmology. 2002;86:1002–1006. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

MeSH terms

Substances