Nutrients
Acute Effects of Caffeine on Choroidal Structure and Vascularity in Healthy Young Adults: A Time-Resolved OCT and OCT-Angiography Study
By Eleonora D’Aniello, Livio Vitiello, Maddalena De Bernardo and 6 others.
Abstract
Background
Caffeine, the most widely consumed dietary bioactive compound worldwide, exerts acute vasoactive effects on several vascular beds, but its impact on the internal composition of the choroid remains unclear. We evaluated the acute effects of a single oral dose of caffeine on choroidal structure and vascularity, retinal superficial capillary plexus (SCP) microcirculation, optic nerve head (ONH) perfusion, and intraocular pressure (IOP) in healthy young adults.
Methods
In this prospective, single-arm observational study without a control group, 46 healthy adults were examined at baseline and 30 and 60 min after ingesting 200 mg of caffeine. Subfoveal choroidal thickness (SCT), total, luminal and stromal choroidal areas, and the choroidal vascularity index (CVI) were derived from EDI-OCT with Niblack binarization. SCP vessel density and perfusion, ONH perfusion and flow index, and IOP were also recorded. Data were analyzed using repeated-measures ANOVA.