Association of serum retinol concentration with normal-tension glaucoma

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

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.

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.

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.