title: Cholesterol affects retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in patients with multiple sclerosis with optic neuritis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the associations between retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness and lipid profiles in multiple sclerosis (MS).
  
  
  METHODS
  This study enrolled 136 patients with MS (n = 272 eyes; 108 females, 28 males, mean age: 46.7 ± 8.9 years); 45% had a history of optic neuritis (ON). Subjects received optical coherence tomography (OCT) testing to assess RNFL thickness and visual acuity testing with Snellen charts. A subset of 88 patients received pattern reversal visual-evoked potential (PRVEP) testing. Lipid profiles consisting of serum high-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, low-density lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and total cholesterol (TC) levels were obtained within ± 6 months of OCT. Regression analyses were used to assess the associations between RNFL thickness and lipid profile variables.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Low RNFL thickness (P = 0.008) and higher PRVEP latency (P = 0.017) were associated with high LDL cholesterol > 100 mg/dl status. Low RNFL thickness (P = 0.008) and higher PRVEP latency (P = 0.043) were associated with high HDL cholesterol levels. Low RNFL thickness was also associated with HDL cholesterol > 60 mg/dl status (P = 0.001) and with TC > 200 mg/dl status (P = 0.015). The probability of average RNFL thickness in the lowest tertile (≤ 33rd percentile) was associated with interactions between TC > 200 mg/dl status (P = 0.001, odds ratio = 7.5, 95% confidence interval = 2.7-21) with affected/unaffected by ON status.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  High cholesterol adversely affects RNFL thickness in patients with MS with ON.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, State University of New York, Buffalo, NY 14260, USA.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kardys
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Weinstock-Guttman
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dillon
authors.forename: M W
authors.initials: MW
authors.lastname: Masud
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Weinstock
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Mahfooz
authors.forename: J K
authors.initials: JK
authors.lastname: Lang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Weinstock
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lincoff
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Zivadinov
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ramanathan
mesh_terms: D002784:Cholesterol / Q000097:blood*; D005074:Evoked Potentials, Visual; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D009902:Optic Neuritis / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology*; D055351:Retinal Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014792:Visual Acuity
chemical_list: D002784:Cholesterol
keywords: cholesterol; environment factors; lipids; multiple sclerosis; optic neuritis; vision