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VI. International Symposium on AMD – Age-Related Macular Degeneration – Emerging Concepts – Exploring known and Identifying new Pathways

11. - 12.09.2015, Baden-Baden

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Prospective assessment of macular pigment over time – results from the Münster Ageing Retina Study

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  • Verena Meyer zu Westrup - Münster
  • M. Dietze - Giessen
  • D. Pauleikhoff - Münster
  • H.-W. Hense - Giessen

VI. International Symposium on AMD – Age-Related Macular Degeneration – Emerging Concepts – Exploring known and Identifying new Pathways. Baden-Baden, 11.-12.09.2015. Düsseldorf: German Medical Science GMS Publishing House; 2015. Doc15amd08

doi: 10.3205/15amd08, urn:nbn:de:0183-15amd088

Published: October 1, 2015

© 2015 Meyer zu Westrup et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. See license information at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

Outline

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Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the natural course of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in study eyes of elderly individuals.

Methods: MPOD was measured at eccentricities of 0.25°, 0.5°, 1.0° and 2.0° from the retinal fovea in 380 study eyes of participants in the second follow-up examination of the prospective Münster Ageing Retina Study using dual-wavelength analysis of autofluorescence images. Age-related maculopathy was graded from standardized fundus photographs and all study eyes were free of advanced stages of AMD; ring-like MP distributions were identified using density profiles. All eyes were re-examined after a median of 4.8 years and changes in MPOD were evaluated.

Results: At baseline, the mean age of the participants was 70.5 years and MPOD was weakly related to older age and inversely with BMI (p < 0.05) but not with maculopathy. Eyes with ring-like structures displayed significantly lower MPOD at central locations and higher values in the periphery. At follow-up, the serum level of lutein had the strongest impact on higher MPOD levels; however, this was significant only at the more peripheral sites and not in the foveal centre. Maculopathy or ring-like MP distributions showed no association with MPOD change over time.

Conclusion: We observed that MPOD is rather stable over time in ageing individuals. MPOD rises in the foveal periphery probably indicate effects of supplemented lutein in the peripheral axon layer. The stability of ring-like distributions confirms previous reports of anatomic and/or genetic predetermination.