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. 2022 Sep;129(9):986-996.
doi: 10.1016/j.ophtha.2022.04.023. Epub 2022 Apr 30.

The Association between Serum Lipids and Intraocular Pressure in 2 Large United Kingdom Cohorts

Kian M Madjedi  1 , Kelsey V Stuart  2 , Sharon Y L Chua  2 , Robert N Luben  3 , Alasdair Warwick  4 , Louis R Pasquale  5 , Jae H Kang  6 , Janey L Wiggs  7 , Marleen A H Lentjes  8 , Hugues Aschard  9 , Naveed Sattar  10 , Paul J Foster  2 , Anthony P Khawaja  3 ; Modifiable Risk Factors for Glaucoma Collaboration and the UK Biobank Eye and Vision Consortium
Collaborators, Affiliations

The Association between Serum Lipids and Intraocular Pressure in 2 Large United Kingdom Cohorts

Kian M Madjedi et al. Ophthalmology. 2022 Sep.

Abstract

Purpose: Serum lipids are modifiable, routinely collected blood test features associated with cardiovascular health. We examined the association of commonly collected serum lipid measures (total cholesterol [TC], high-density lipoprotein cholesterol [HDL-C], low-density lipoprotein cholesterol [LDL-C], and triglycerides) with intraocular pressure (IOP).

Design: Cross-sectional study in the UK Biobank and European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk cohorts.

Participants: We included 94 323 participants from the UK Biobank (mean age, 57 years) and 6230 participants from the EPIC-Norfolk (mean age, 68 years) cohorts with data on TC, HDL-C, LDL-C, and triglycerides collected between 2006 and 2009.

Methods: Multivariate linear regression adjusting for demographic, lifestyle, anthropometric, medical, and ophthalmic covariables was used to examine the associations of serum lipids with corneal-compensated IOP (IOPcc).

Main outcome measures: Corneal-compensated IOP.

Results: Higher levels of TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C were associated independently with higher IOPcc in both cohorts after adjustment for key demographic, medical, and lifestyle factors. For each 1-standard deviation increase in TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C, IOPcc was higher by 0.09 mmHg (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.06-0.11 mmHg; P < 0.001), 0.11 mmHg (95% CI, 0.08-0.13 mmHg; P < 0.001), and 0.07 mmHg (95% CI, 0.05-0.09 mmHg; P < 0.001), respectively, in the UK Biobank cohort. In the EPIC-Norfolk cohort, each 1-standard deviation increase in TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C was associated with a higher IOPcc by 0.19 mmHg (95% CI, 0.07-0.31 mmHg; P = 0.001), 0.14 mmHg (95% CI, 0.03-0.25 mmHg; P = 0.016), and 0.17 mmHg (95% CI, 0.06-0.29 mmHg; P = 0.003). An inverse association between triglyceride levels and IOP in the UK Biobank (-0.05 mmHg; 95% CI, -0.08 to -0.03; P < 0.001) was not replicated in the EPIC-Norfolk cohort (P = 0.30).

Conclusions: Our findings suggest that serum TC, HDL-C, and LDL-C are associated positively with IOP in 2 United Kingdom cohorts and that triglyceride levels may be associated negatively. Future research is required to assess whether these associations are causal in nature.

Keywords: Cholesterol; Glaucoma; Intraocular pressure; Lipids.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Flowchart showing participants included in the UK Biobank and European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk cohorts. BMI = body mass index; IOP = intraocular pressure; SBP = systolic blood pressure.
Figure 2
Figure 2
A–H, Graphs showing multivariate linear regression of (A, E) total cholesterol, (B, F) high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), (C, G) low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C), and (D, H) triglyceride levels with corneal-compensated (IOPcc) in the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition (EPIC)-Norfolk and UK Biobank cohorts adjusted for age, sex, ethnicity, Townsend deprivation index, body mass index, height, systolic blood pressure, smoking, alcohol and diabetes status, statin use, oral β-blocker use, and spherical equivalent. These subfigures demonstrate the intraocular pressure based on the lipid level and covariables from the multivariate regression.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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