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THE EFFECT OF PHYSICAL ACTIVITY AND FITNESS LEVEL ON RETINAL MICROCIRCULATION
FRANJO DREŽNJAK
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
IVAN MUSA
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
IRENA SESAR
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ANITA PUŠIĆ SESAR
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
ANTONIO SESAR
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
RENATO PEJIĆ
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
FILIP GUNARIĆ
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
IVAN MERDŽO
orcid.org/0000-0001-5292-828X
; University of Mostar School of Medicine, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina; Department of Ophthalmology, Mostar University Hospital, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Abstract
Aim: To examine differences in retinal microcirculation between people with different degrees of physical fi tness. Methods: The subjects were divided into athletes and non-athletes. Both groups took part in two examinations. The fi rst examination was performed before short-term exercise and the second one immediately after it. First group consisted of 25 athletes (50 eyes), and the second group of 25 non-athletes (50 eyes) who were not previously exposed to acute physical stress. Athletes are defi ned as people who have been engaged in some form of regular physical activity for at least 5 years, and have met certain criteria according to the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ). Non-athletes were those who were physically inactive or at least not regularly engaged in physical activity during the same period and did not meet the IPAQ criteria. The subjects were men and women between 18 and 26 years of age who did not have any cardiovascular disease, used drugs affecting the cardiovascular system, nor had an eye disease or a refractive error greater than spherical equivalent of +/-3 diopters. The examination consisted of optical coherence tomography angiography (OCT-A) imaging pre- and post-workout. The parameters taken into account were vascular density (VD) at three different macular areas according to the standard Early Treatment Diabetic Retinopathy Study (ETDRS) grid, i.e., central zone, inner zone and full area; perfusion density (PD), also at the three mentioned zones; and the area of foveal avascular zone (FAZ) in both eyes. The research also included a standardized survey on physical activity of the subjects (IPAQ), which was completed before the examination. The acute physical exercise consisted of the standardized incremental cycling ergometer test (ICET), which was performed on a stationary exercise bike for 5 minutes, at a given load of 12 degrees. On statistical processing of the data obtained, SPSS for Windows (version 13.0, SPSS Inc., Chicago, Illinois, USA) software was used. Results: Baseline measures of VD and PD were similar between the groups. FAZ surface was signifi cantly increased in the athlete group compared with non-athletes both at baseline and after short-term exercise. VD was signifi cantly higher in athletes post-exercise compared with the non-athlete group. Central PD was also signifi -cantly increased after exercise in the athlete group, and not in the non-athlete group. Conclusion: The results obtained in this study demonstrated that athletes exhibited a more intensive vascular reaction to exercise. The parameters in basal conditions did not show signifi cant difference between the two groups, except for FAZ which was larger in athletes. Signifi cant differences present post-workout in other measured values indicated a more dynamic vascular system in physically active individuals.
Keywords
physical activity; retina; blood vessels; OCT-A; ICET
Hrčak ID:
307177
URI
Publication date:
10.8.2023.
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