@article {699, title = {Retinal microvascular abnormalities and blood pressure in older people: the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {Br J Ophthalmol}, volume = {86}, year = {2002}, month = {2002 Sep}, pages = {1007-13}, abstract = {

AIM: To examine the relation between blood pressure and retinal microvascular abnormalities in older people.

METHODS: The Cardiovascular Health Study is a prospective cohort study conducted in four US communities initiated in 1989 to 1990. Blood pressure was measured according to standardised protocols at each examination. During the 1997-8 examination, retinal photographs were taken of 2405 people aged 69-97 years (2056 without diabetes and 349 with diabetes). Signs of focal microvascular abnormalities (focal arteriolar narrowing, arteriovenous nicking, and retinopathy) were evaluated from photographs according to standardised methods. To quantify generalised arteriolar narrowing, the photographs were digitised and diameters of individual arterioles were measured and summarised.

RESULTS: In non-diabetic people, elevated concurrent blood pressure taken at the time of retinal photography was strongly associated with presence of all retinal microvascular lesions. The multivariable adjusted odds ratios, comparing the highest to lowest quintile of concurrent systolic blood pressure, were 4.0 (95\% confidence intervals (CI): 2.4 to 6.9, p test of trend<0.001) for focal arteriolar narrowing, 2.9 (95\% CI: 1.6 to 5.3, p<0.001) for arteriovenous nicking, 2.8 (95\% CI: 1.5 to 5.2, p<0.001) for retinopathy, and 2.1 (95\% CI: 1.4 to 3.1, p<0.001) for generalised arteriolar narrowing. Generalised arteriolar narrowing and possibly arteriovenous nicking were also significantly associated with past blood pressure measured up to 8 years before retinal photography, even after adjustment for concurrent blood pressure. These associations were somewhat weaker in people with diabetes.

CONCLUSIONS: Retinal microvascular abnormalities are related to elevated concurrent blood pressure in older people. Additionally, generalised retinal arteriolar narrowing and possibly arteriovenous nicking are related to previously elevated blood pressure, independent of concurrent blood pressure. These data suggest that retinal microvascular changes reflect severity and duration of hypertension.

}, keywords = {Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Blood Pressure, Cohort Studies, Diabetic Retinopathy, Eye, Female, Humans, Male, Microcirculation, Prospective Studies, Retina, Retinal Diseases}, issn = {0007-1161}, doi = {10.1136/bjo.86.9.1007}, author = {Wong, T Y and Hubbard, L D and Klein, R and Marino, E K and Kronmal, R and Sharrett, A R and Siscovick, D S and Burke, G and Tielsch, J M} } @article {1070, title = {Hypertension genes and retinal vascular calibre: the Cardiovascular Health Study.}, journal = {J Hum Hypertens}, volume = {23}, year = {2009}, month = {2009 Sep}, pages = {578-84}, abstract = {

We examined the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in three candidate hypertension genes, alpha-adducin (ADD1/G460W), beta2-adrenergic receptor (ADRB2/Arg16Gly and Gln27Glu) and G-protein beta3 subunit (GNB3/C825T), with retinal arteriolar calibre (an intermediate marker of chronic hypertension) and venular calibre. Data in 1842 participants (1554 whites and 288 African Americans) aged 69-96 years from the Cardiovascular Health Study with genotype and retinal vascular calibre data were included. A computer-assisted method was used to measure retinal vascular calibre. We analysed four SNPs and multilocus interaction for three genes. All SNPs were in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in whites and African Americans. The study had sufficient power to detect 0.5\% of the total variance of retinal vascular calibre contributed by each SNP in the total population, except for the GNB3 gene variant. No significant associations between these SNPs in the genes studied and mean retinal arteriolar and venular calibre were found in single-gene or multilocus analysis (for example, age-, gender-, race-adjusted mean retinal arteriolar calibre was similar between participants who were ADD1/460W homozygotes and ADD1/G allele carriers, 166.2 vs 167.7 microm). In conclusion, this study found no evidence of an association of SNPs in candidate hypertension genes studied here with retinal vascular calibre.

}, keywords = {African Americans, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Arterioles, Calmodulin-Binding Proteins, European Continental Ancestry Group, Heterotrimeric GTP-Binding Proteins, Humans, Hypertension, Longitudinal Studies, Polymorphism, Single Nucleotide, Receptors, Adrenergic, beta-2, Retinal Vessels}, issn = {1476-5527}, doi = {10.1038/jhh.2008.168}, author = {Sun, C and Wang, J J and Islam, F M and Heckbert, S R and Klein, R and Siscovick, D S and Klein, B E K and Wong, T Y} }