Caffeine consumption does not significantly impact retinal vascular density
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts
Key takeaways:
- The caffeine group had higher systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to the placebo group.
- There was no difference between groups in OCTA parameters, regardless of scan modality.
While caffeine consumption may elevate blood pressure after 2 hours, it does not have a significant impact on retinal vessel density, according to a study in the Journal of Ophthalmology.
“Caffeine, the world’s most commonly used psychoactive drug, is consumed daily by 85% of the U.S. population,” Mitchell Jacobs, MD, and colleagues at the University of Kentucky wrote. “Despite its widespread usage, there is still much to learn about its effects on the human body, making ongoing research crucial for a comprehensive understanding.”
In a prospective, randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled study of 59 healthy low caffeine users (less than 136 mg caffeine daily; mean age, 23 years), participants were randomly assigned to either a 200 mg caffeine pill or placebo to assess the effects of caffeine on blood pressure and retinal vessel density measured by OCT angiography (OCTA).
While there was no difference at 1 hour, blood pressure in the caffeine group was significantly higher than the control group 2 hours after taking the pill: 123 +/-7 mm Hg vs. 118 +/-7 mm Hg systolic and 81 +/-5 mm Hg vs. 77 +/-6 mm Hg diastolic.
There were no differences between groups in OCTA parameters at 1 hour or 2 hours post-intervention across different OCTA scan modalities.
“The findings of this study suggest that caffeine did not influence the [vessel density] of the macular or peripapillary regions of the retina, but other factors may play a role in previously documented vasoconstrictive effects,” the researchers wrote.
Collapse
Read more about
Click Here to Manage Email Alerts