The Relationship between Retinal Arteriolar and Venular Calibers Is Genetically Mediated, and Each Is Associated with Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Year: 2010
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: PURPOSE: Retinal arteriolar and venular calibers are highly heritable and associated with cardiovascular disease. This study was designed to investigate the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on the high phenotypic correlation (r = 0.59) between these two traits and to assess the shared and specific influence of established and novel cardiovascular disease risk factors on them. METHODS: A total of 1463 Caucasian female twins (706 monozygotic and 757 dizygotic), between 24 and 79 years of age, underwent retinal photography from which retinal arteriolar (mean, 153.75 ± 22.1 μm, SD) and venular (mean, 232.1 ± 36.6 μm) calibers were measured with semiautomated software. A bivariate heritability model was used to assess the genetic and environmental influences underlying both specific trait variance and the covariance between the vessel traits. The investigation was an assessment of phenotypic associations between retinal arteriolar and venular calibers and cardiovascular disease risk factors. RESULTS: Additive genetic factors accounted for approximately three fourths of the covariance between retinal arteriolar and venular calibers within the cohort. This finding was replicated in a sample of 1981 twins from the Australian Twins Eye Study. The partial correlation showed that known risk factors accounted for only 5% of the covariance between arteriolar and venular calibers. Novel associations were found between venular caliber and β-cell function (P = 0.011) and insulin sensitivity (P = 0.002). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that future gene-mapping studies may identify pleiotropic genetic variants influencing both retinal arteriolar and venular calibers. Genetic variants associated with retinal caliber and (risk factors for) cardiovascular disease should provide new etiologic insights into this complex disease.
DOI: 10.1167/iovs.10-5927
Institutions: King's College London, Royal Children's Hospital, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, The University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, The University of Melbourne, National University of Singapore, Centre for Eye Research Australia, Singapore Eye Research Institute, Lions Eye Institute, The University of Western Australia
Language: English
Topic: Retinal Imaging and Analysis
Subfield: Radiology, Nuclear Medicine and Imaging
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: bronze
Funders: American Health Assistance Foundation, Pfizer, Wellcome Trust, Glaucoma Australia, Jack Brockhoff Foundation, National Institute for Health and Care Research, King's College London, European Commission, Pfizer Australia, Ophthalmic Research Institute of Australia, National Institutes of Health, Directorate for Biological Sciences, Medical Research Council, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, National Eye Institute
Awards: G1077033501, G119964413, International Collaborative Twin Study of Refractive and Glaucoma Endophenotypes, G2473961061, G2973790809, G3207356259, G393177772, European Network for Genetic and Genomic Epidemiology, GENETIC FACTORS FOR OSTEOPOROSIS, G5702163051, G6091493096, G855219721, G8629017599
OpenAlex ID: W2113383258