Background: Some optic nerve diseases are silent and insidious. Recently, reduced thickness of retinal nerve fibre layer (RNFL) has been associated with increasing body mass index in adults.
Objectives: To investigate the association of childhood obesity with RNFL measured by optical coherence tomography imaging.
Methods: Ninety-seven children aged 5-14 years classified according to standard deviation score of body mass index (SDS-BMI) were included. Parameters of metabolic risk, adipocytokines (leptin, adiponectin) and interleukin-6 were analyzed. All subjects underwent a comprehensive ophthalmologic examination with direct ophthalmoscopy. Evaluation of RNFL with optical coherence tomography of the head of the nerve was performed.
Results: RNFL thickness on the average and inferior, superior and nasal quadrants were decreased in severely obese children (SDS-BMI > 4) with respect to the other groups. However, no statistically significant association was found between the different groups of children and RNFL thickness in the temporal quadrant. There was a significant inverse correlation of RNFL thickness with adiposity indices (P = 0.016), leptin (P = 0.029) and interleukin-6 (P = 0.030) in overweight and obese children.
Conclusions: These findings suggest that adiposity and obesity-related inflammatory factors may be associated with the loss of retinal ganglion cells in children.
Keywords: Leptin; optical coherence tomography; paediatric obesity; retinal nerve fibre layer.
© 2014 World Obesity.