Associations with photoreceptor thickness measures in the UK Biobank

Abstract

Spectral-domain OCT (SD-OCT) provides high resolution images enabling identification of individual retinal layers. We included 32,923 participants aged 40–69 years old from UK Biobank. Questionnaires, physical examination, and eye examination including SD-OCT imaging were performed. SD OCT measured photoreceptor layer thickness includes photoreceptor layer thickness: inner nuclear layer-retinal pigment epithelium (INL-RPE) and the specific sublayers of the photoreceptor: inner nuclear layer-external limiting membrane (INL-ELM); external limiting membrane-inner segment outer segment (ELM-ISOS); and inner segment outer segment-retinal pigment epithelium (ISOS-RPE). In multivariate regression models, the total average INL-RPE was observed to be thinner in older aged, females, Black ethnicity, smokers, participants with higher systolic blood pressure, more negative refractive error, lower IOPcc and lower corneal hysteresis. The overall INL-ELM, ELM-ISOS and ISOS-RPE thickness was significantly associated with sex and race. Total average of INL-ELM thickness was additionally associated with age and refractive error, while ELM-ISOS was additionally associated with age, smoking status, SBP and refractive error; and ISOS-RPE was additionally associated with smoking status, IOPcc and corneal hysteresis. Hence, we found novel associations of ethnicity, smoking, systolic blood pressure, refraction, IOPcc and corneal hysteresis with photoreceptor thickness.

Comparative analysis of metamorphopsia and aniseikonia after vitrectomy for epiretinal membrane, macular hole, or rhegmatogenous retinal detachment

“…In this study "inner retina" was the region from the internal limiting membrane (ILM) to the border between the inner plexiform layer (IPL) and inner nuclear layer (INL); "middle retina" was the region from the border of the IPL and INL to 91.0 μm from the retinal pigment membrane (RPE); and "outer retina" was the region from 91.0 μm from the RPE to the RPE, including outer retinal bands. [15] The location of each layer was based on automated layer segmentation performed by swept-source-OCT instrument software (IMAGEnet 6, software version 1.21; Topcon Corp.).…”

Rare complement factor I variants associated with reduced macular thickness and age-related macular degeneration in the UK Biobank

“…In our multisite community-based study, we examined the impact of risk alleles in the CFI , CFH and ARMS2/HTRA1 (HtrA serine peptidase 1 gene) genes on RPE–BM and retinal thicknesses at the macula, and analyzed their interaction on AMD risk. We demonstrated strong associations between thinner RPE–BM/retinal layers and the principal AMD risk factors of increasing age and smoking ( 20 , 21 ), and identified novel associations of genetic complement defects with macular thickness ( Fig. 2 ).…”

“…All OCT images were stored as .fds and .fda files within a central repository at Advanced Research Computing, University of Oxford, UK, via remote login. The Topcon Advanced Boundary Segmentation (TABS™) segmentation software (Version 1.6.1.1, Topcon) was used to automatically segment the retinal surfaces as previously described ( 20 , 21 ). Internal limiting membrane–RPE thickness bands were calculated for both eyes and the mean of these derived; their outer limit is delineated by the photoreceptor–RPE interface.…”

“…Participants who had undergone eye surgery less than 4 weeks ago were excluded from all ocular measurements. Subjects were excluded from segmentation analysis if they had poor OCT signal strength, poor image quality, poor centration certainty, missing thickness values from any ETDRS macular subfields, refractive error > +6 diopters (D) or < −6 D, visual acuity worse than 0.1 logMAR, IOPg ≥ 22 or ≤ 5 mmHg or a self-reported history of ocular illness, diabetes or neurodegenerative disease—as previously defined ( 20 , 21 ). Additionally, participants with a health record diagnosis of AMD were excluded from analysis of RPE and retinal macular thickness associations with age as the timescale.…”

“…Optical coherence tomography (OCT) is a rapid, non-invasive imaging modality which provides cross-sectional structural information about the neurosensory retina and RPE to an axial resolution of 3–8 μm ( 19 ). OCT-derived metrics of macular thickness are associated with AMD risk factors such as ageing and smoking ( 20 , 21 ), and are under increased scrutiny as proxies for systemic inflammation and microvascular dysfunction ( 19 ). The UK Biobank is the largest biorepository of retinal imaging to-date, encompassing over 130 000 OCT scans, many of which are segmented for RPE–BM complex and/or retinal thickness at the macula.…”