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. 2022 Sep;36(9):1820-1825.
doi: 10.1038/s41433-021-01740-6. Epub 2021 Aug 12.

Association of serum retinol concentration with normal-tension glaucoma

Ruiqi Pang  1 , Shuo Feng  2 , Kai Cao  1 , Yunxiao Sun  1 , Yiqin Guo  1 , Dandan Ma  1 , Chi Pui Pang  3 , Xiangyi Liu  4 , Jingyu Qian  4 , Yuan Xie  1 , Yan Shi  1 , Hailong He  1 , Jun Peng  5 , Congyan Chen  5 , Jing Cui  6 , Siloka A Labisi  1 , Yue Zhang  1 , Yingdi Fu  1 , Jiaying Li  1 , Yue Wan  1 , Chen Xin  1 , Hanruo Liu  1 , Qing Zhang  1 , Robert N Weinreb  7 , Huaizhou Wang  1 , Ningli Wang  8
Affiliations

Association of serum retinol concentration with normal-tension glaucoma

Ruiqi Pang et al. Eye (Lond). 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Objectives: To evaluate the association between serum retinol concentration and normal-tension glaucoma (NTG).

Methods: A total of 345 study subjects were recruited in a prospective cross-sectional study: 101 patients with NTG, 106 patients with high-pressure primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) and 138 healthy control subjects. Serum retinol concentration in fasting blood samples was determined by ultra-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). All study subjects were given complete ophthalmic examinations and diagnosed by two glaucoma sub-specialists.

Results: Serum retinol concentrations in NTG, POAG, and controls were 338.90 ± 103.23 ng/mL, 405.22 ± 114.12 ng/mL, and 408.84 ± 122.36 ng/mL respectively. NTG patients had lower serum retinol concentrations than POAG (p < 0.001) or healthy controls (p < 0.001). There was no statistical difference between the POAG and healthy controls (p = 0.780). Higher proportion of NTG patients (37.6%) than POAG (17.9%) or controls (21.7%) had serum retinol concentrations lower than 300 ng/mL. Serum retinol was positively correlated with optic nerve sheath diameter (ONSD) (r = 0.349, p = 0.001) in glaucoma patients and not associated with any other demographic features or ophthalmic biometric parameters in the NTG patients. Multivariate logistic regression showed that serum retinol (OR = 0.898, 95CI%: 0.851-0.947) was associated with incident NTG.

Conclusions: NTG patients had lower serum retinol concentrations. Serum retinol uniquely associated with NTG makes it a new potential option for the diagnosis and treatment of the disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the paper, or in the decision to publish the results.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1. Box plot showing the difference of the serum retinol concentrations in patients with normal-tension glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma and healthy subjects.
The serum retinol concentration of normal-tension glaucoma was statistically lower than that of primary open-angle glaucoma or healthy group. The numbers in the figure stand for median values of serum retinol concentrations.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2. Bar plot showing the percentage of serum retinol deficiency in normal-tension glaucoma, primary open-angle glaucoma and healthy groups.
Serum retinol deficiency means that serum retinol is less than 300 ng/ml. The numbers in the figure stand for the percentage of serum retinol deficiency in the three groups.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3. Scatter plot showing the relationship between the serum retinol concentration and the optic nerve sheath diameter at 3 mm behind globe.
55 patients with normal-tension glaucoma and 38 patients with primary open-angle glaucoma were included in the statistics. The correlation was significant (r = 0.349, p = 0.001).
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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