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The time course of contrast sensitivity recovery after a pigment bleaching is delayed in subjects with abdominal obesity
Author(s) -
Puell M.,
Jemni N.,
VeselinovaNikolova A.,
FernándezBalbuena A.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
acta ophthalmologica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.534
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1755-3768
pISSN - 1755-375X
DOI - 10.1111/j.1755-3768.2017.0t067
Subject(s) - abdominal obesity , medicine , repeatability , body mass index , waist , obesity , waist to height ratio , ophthalmology , nuclear medicine , mathematics , statistics
Purpose The abdominal obesity is an anthropometric marker associated with inflammation and age‐related macular degeneration ( AMD ). We examined the association between mesopic contrast recovery dynamics and abdominal obesity in older adults with normal macular health. Methods 29 eyes of 29 healthy subjects (47–70 years) divided in two groups: a group without abdominal obesity (waist‐to‐height ratio ( WH tR) < 0.5; n = 15) and a group with abdominal obesity (Wt HR ≥ 0.5; n = 14) were examined. The recovery of contrast sensitivity for sine‐wave gratings of low spatial frequency (1 cycles per degree) and low mean luminance (0.1 cd.m‐2) was measured within the central retina for 6 minutes in darkness after photo‐pigment bleaching. Sensitivity recovery functions were fitted to an exponential decay function. The time constant for recovery (tau, seconds), elevation and final contrast thresholds ( CT ) were calculated. The intersession repeatability of the method was determined by the Bland‐Altman coefficient of repeatability ( COR ). Visual acuity ( VA ), body mass index ( BMI ) and Wt HR were obtained. Results The mean tau was 42 s slower in the group with abdominal obesity (83.84 ± 35.78 s) than in the group without abdominal obesity (41.94 ± 13.70 s) ( P < 0.001). The mean elevation and final CT s did not vary significantly between groups. Forward stepwise regression analysis revealed that tau was independently correlated with Wt HR ( r = 0.74; P < 0.0001), but not with BMI , CT , VA or age. There was no significant relationship between Wt HR and CT s. Intersession repeatability of recovery measurements was high (tau, COR = ± 16 s). Conclusions The time constant for contrast sensitivity recovery after a pigment bleaching increases with abdominal obesity in eyes of older adults with normal macular health. Testing for the combination of these factors would allow for early detection of AMD .