Retinal Microvascular Calibres and Body Fat Indices in Young Adults

Adverse microvascular complications are early markers of cardiovascular risk and precede the development of cardiovascular diseases. An increase in adiposity has been associated with changes in retinal microvascular calibre in a specific age group. However, this association is scarce in young adults. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the relationship between neck circumference and body fat with retinal microvascular calibres in young adults. In our cross-sectional study, 330 students aged (18-30 years) participated. Anthropometric measurements were taken according to standard procedures. Retinal photographs were obtained with an Optomed retinal camera and analyzed with MONA-REVA vessel analysis software to obtain microvascular calibres such as central retinal arteriolar equivalent (CRAE), central venular equivalent (CRVE) and artery-to-venous ratio (AVR). In the stepwise multiple regression analysis, neck circumference (NC) was negatively associated with CRAE [adjusted R² = 0.050; β = -0.122 (95% CI = -0.963; -0.067), p = 0.024], and body fat percentage was positively associated with CRVE [adjusted R² = 0.060; β = 0.157 (95% CI = 0.072; 0.364), p = 0.004] adjusted for age, gender, body mass index, smoking, alcohol and mean arterial pressure. For the first time in young adults, an increase in upper body fat was associated with retinal arteriolar narrowing, while an increase in total body fat was associated with retinal venular widening.