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Macular thickness affected by genetic factors
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Macular thickness is affected by genetics, a recent study in twins suggests. The differences in macular thickness between older, healthy identical and nonidentical twins “suggest an inherited basis of macular thickness,” the study authors said.
Matthew D. Chamberlain and colleagues at the Centre for Eye Research Australia performed a classic twin study to compare the correlation of macular thickness between monozygotic and dizygotic twins. They analyzed data from 109 white twin pairs who ranged in age from 50 to 80 years old and had no evidence of ocular disease. Corrected visual acuity was better than 6/7.5. All patients underwent dilated macular optical coherence tomography, fundus photography, clinical examination, ocular biometry, a health-dietary questionnaire and subjective autorefraction.
The correlation of retinal thickness was significantly greater between the identical twins than the fraternal twins in all macular regions. After adjusting for significant covariates and model fitting, there was a final heritability estimate of 85% in the foveal region, 81% in the inner macular region and 81% in the outer macular region, the authors said. They also found a significant negative correlation between outer macular thickness and axial length.
“Factors such as axial length, gender and age warrant further examination in larger population-based studies as variables that may influence macular thickness,” the authors said.
The study is published in the January issue of Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science.