Purpose: To study retinal response in terms of arteriole diameter and retinal thickness secondary to an increase in arterial blood pressure during acute hyperglycaemia.
Methods: In a randomized, double-blinded, cross-over study, nine healthy persons were subjected to clamping of blood glucose to either 5 mmol/l or 15 mmol/l using somatostatin to control endogenous insulin secretion. The response of retinal arterioles in terms of diameter as determined with the retinal vessel analyser (RVA) and retinal thickness as assessed by optical coherence tomography (OCT) were measured after an increase in arterial blood pressure induced by isometric exercise. Arterial feeding pressure in the eye was assessed from the ophthalmic artery pressure and pulse amplitude measured by ophthalmodynamometry.
Results: Isometric exercise induced a significant increase in mean arterial blood pressure and a significant contraction of the retinal arterioles. An acute increase in blood glucose from 5 mmol/l to 15 mmol/l did not affect either the diameter of retinal vessels or retinal thickness.
Conclusions: Acute hyperglycaemia per se does not change isometric exercise-induced retinal arteriolar contraction. Metabolic factors other than blood glucose are suspected to be involved in the impairment of retinal autoregulation as seen in hyperglycaemia induced by oral glucose intake.