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Published on: September 13, 2016
Association of Serum Uric Acid With Retinal Capillary Plexus
Kai Yang1, Chunmei Li1, Keai Shi1
1Eye Hospital and School of Ophthalmology and Optometry, Wenzhou Medical University, National Clinical Research Center for Ocular Diseases, Wenzhou, China.
Background:
To determine the association between serum uric acid (SUA) and the retinal capillary plexus (RCP) using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA).
Methods:
This cross-sectional study evaluated data from August 2019 to January 2020 from participants recruited from the Jidong community (Tangshan, Hebei, China). All participants completed detailed anthropometrical measurements, laboratory tests and comprehensive ophthalmic examinations. We assessed the vessel density in RCP using OCTA. We used multivariable analysis to evaluate the sex-specific association between SUA and RCP after adjusting for confounders.
Results:
A total of 2730 participants were included in this study. The mean age of the participants was 44.0 ± 11.6 years, and 1463 (53.6%) were women. The multivariable βs and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of superficial RCP vessel density in the second through fourth SUA quartiles compared with the lowest SUA quartiles were -0.27 (-0.56 - 0.03), -0.30 (-0.60 - 0.01), and -0.46 (-0.78 - -0.14) (P for trend = 0.007) in men.
Conclusions:
Higher SUA levels were significantly associated with lower RCP vessel density in men. Our findings provide evidence for the detrimental effect of high SUA levels on the retinal microvasculature and imply the importance of modulating SUA to prevent the microvascular alternation especially for men.
