No blue-yellow color vision impairment after acute ethanol ingestion

Several studies showed that chronic ethanol exposure can cause color vision deficiencies. There has been no agreement about the axis of color defects due to alcohol misuse since changes in the red-green and the blue-yellow axis have been described in literature. The acute influence of alcohol on the blue-yellow color vision has not been studied as well. The aim of this study was to determine the effect of acute alcohol ingestion on blue-yellow color vision by using short wavelength automated perimetry (SWAP) and anomaloscopy with the Moreland equation. This is the first study evaluating that question by using SWAP and anomaloscopy. Sixteen healthy subjects without a history of alcohol-related and ophthalmological problems were examined by SWAP and anomaloscopy (Moreland equation) before and after alcohol ingestion. Mean sensitivity (MS), mean deviation (MD), loss of variance (LV), reliability factor (RF), and duration of examination were assessed for perimetry and match midpoint (MP), matching range (MR), and duration of examination for anomaloscopy. Blood alcohol concentrations (BAC) were determined by gas chromatography and phosphatidylethanol concentrations (marker of an alcohol misuse) by liquid-chromatography tandem-mass spectrometry in venous blood samples from a cubital vein. Mean blood BAC was 0.86 ± 0.20 g/kg while performing perimetry and 0.84 ± 0.20 g/kg while performing anomaloscopy (BAC: 0.1 g/kg ≈ 0.01 g/dL). MS, MD, RF, MP, MR, and duration of perimetry examination were not altered significantly after alcohol intake. LV showed a significant increase. The duration of anomaloscope testing was shortened significantly under the influence of alcohol. The subjects also revealed a significantly narrower matching range after alcohol intake. In the range of 0.8 g/kg BAC, no blue-yellow vision deficiencies could be demonstrated. In further studies, the effect of higher BAC on blue-yellow vision should be investigated by different methods.