(03-05-12) Carbohydrate nutrition is associated with changes in the retinal vascular structure and branching pattern in children1,2,3

1. Bamini Gopinath,
2. Victoria M Flood,
3. Jie Jin Wang,
4. Wayne Smith,
5. Elena Rochtchina,
6. Jimmy CY Louie,
7. Tien Y Wong,
8. Jennie Brand-Miller, and
9. Paul Mitchell
+ Author Affiliations
1. 1From the Centre for Vision Research, Department of Ophthalmology and Westmead Millennium Institute (BG, JJW, ER, JCYL, and PM), the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating Disorders (JCYL and JB-M), and the Discipline of Nutrition and Metabolism, School of Molecular Bioscience (JB-M), University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia; the Faculty of Health and Behavioural Sciences, University of Wollongong, Sydney, Australia (VMF); the Centre for Eye Research Australia, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia (JJW and TYW); the School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia (WS); and the Singapore Eye Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore (TYW).
+ Author Notes
↵2 The Sydney Myopia Study (Sydney Childhood Eye Study) was supported by the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (grant no. 253732); the Westmead Millennium Institute, University of Sydney; and the Vision Co-operative Research Centre, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia.
↵3 Address correspondence to P Mitchell, Centre for Vision Research, University of Sydney, Westmead Hospital, Hawkesbury Road, Westmead, NSW, 2145, Australia. E-mail: [email protected].
Abstract
Background: Higher intake of carbohydrates and high?glycemic index (high-GI) diets could lead to small vessel dysfunction.
Objectives: We aimed to assess the associations between intakes of high-GI and high?glycemic load (high-GL) diets, carbohydrate, and the main carbohydrate-containing food groups and retinal microvascular changes in preadolescents.
Design: Students aged 12 y (n = 2353) from a random cluster sample of 21 schools underwent detailed eye examinations. Retinal vessel caliber and fractal dimension were measured from digital retinal images. A validated semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaire was administered.
Results: After multivariable adjustment, children who consumed soft drinks once or more per day had significantly narrower mean retinal arterioles (∼1.9 μm) than did those who never or rarely consumed soft drinks (P-trend = 0.03). When the highest to lowest tertiles of carbohydrate consumption were compared, girls had significantly narrower retinal arterioles (∼1.4 μm; P-trend = 0.03) and boys had wider venules (∼2.3 μm; P-trend = 0.02). In girls only, a higher-GI diet was associated with narrower retinal arterioles (0.98-μm narrowing of retinal arteriolar caliber per SD increase in GI, P = 0.01). Carbohydrate intake and a high-GL diet were associated with greater retinal fractal dimension in girls (highest compared with lowest tertiles: P-trend = 0.003 and 0.01, respectively).
Conclusions: Greater consumption of carbohydrates and soft drinks was associated with retinal arteriolar narrowing and venular widening. Because these microvascular signs have been shown to be markers of future cardiovascular disease risk, the presence of this risk factor in children could support the need for healthy dietary patterns that include lower consumption of high-GI foods and soft drinks.

Source: Am J Clin Nutr May 2012 vol. 95 no. 5 1215-1222

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