Association of Plasma Omega-3 Fatty Acids With POAG

To investigate the association between plasma levels of omega-3 fatty acids and the risk of POAG.

We conducted prospective cohort analyses among 254,157 participants of European descent in the UK Biobank cohort. Mendelian randomization analyses were further performed to assess the causal relationship between omega-3 fatty acids and POAG using publicly available genome-wide association study summary statistics.

Over 13.84 years of follow-up, 1,166 patients (0.46%) developed POAG. After adjustment for covariates including POAG polygenetic risk scores, a 1-unit (mmol/L) increment in plasma levels of omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids was significantly associated with a decreased risk of incident POAG (hazard ratio, 0.61; 95% confidence interval, 0.43-0.88; P = 0.008). The association of plasma docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) levels with the risk of POAG was borderline significant (hazard ratio, 0.42; 95% confidence interval, 0.17-1.01; P = 0.05). Moreover, the associations were more prominent among individuals with high glaucoma genetic risks, although no significant interaction was detected between omega-3/DHA levels and glaucoma polygenic risk scores (all P > 0.05). For Mendelian randomization analyses, the results of random-effect inverse-variance weighted models and two other sensitivity analyses indicated that genetically predicted plasma levels of omega-3 and DHA were significantly inversely associated with the risk of POAG (all P < 0.05).

Our findings suggested a protective effect of omega-3 fatty acids on POAG, underscoring their potential value in POAG prevention strategies.