The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults.
<h4>Purpose</h4>There is abundant evidence on the benefits of physical activity on cardiovascular health. However, there are only few data on the acute effects of physical exercise on the retina and choroid. Our aim was the in vivo examination of chorioretinal alterations following short...
| Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022-01-01
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| Series: | PLoS ONE |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268770 |
| _version_ | 1811290399698845696 |
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| author | Irén Szalai Anita Csorba Fanni Pálya Tian Jing Endre Horváth Edit Bosnyák István Györe Zoltán Zsolt Nagy Delia Cabrera DeBuc Miklós Tóth Gábor Márk Somfai |
| author_facet | Irén Szalai Anita Csorba Fanni Pálya Tian Jing Endre Horváth Edit Bosnyák István Györe Zoltán Zsolt Nagy Delia Cabrera DeBuc Miklós Tóth Gábor Márk Somfai |
| author_sort | Irén Szalai |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <h4>Purpose</h4>There is abundant evidence on the benefits of physical activity on cardiovascular health. However, there are only few data on the acute effects of physical exercise on the retina and choroid. Our aim was the in vivo examination of chorioretinal alterations following short intense physical activity by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).<h4>Methods</h4>Twenty-one eyes of 21 healthy, young subjects (mean age 22.5 ± 4.1 years, 15 males and 6 females) were recruited. Macular scanning with a SD-OCT was performed before and following a vita maxima-type physical strain exercise on a rowing ergometer until complete fatigue. Follow-up OCT scans were performed 1, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes following the exercise. The OCT images were exported and analyzed using our custom-built OCTRIMA 3D software and the thickness of 7 retinal layers was calculated, along with semi-automated measurement of the choroidal thickness. One-way ANOVA analysis was performed followed by Dunnett post hoc test for the thickness change compared to baseline and the correlation between performance and thickness change has also been calculated. The level of significance was set at 0.001.<h4>Results</h4>We observed a significant thinning of the total retina 1 minute post-exercise (-7.3 ± 0.6 μm, p < 0.001) which was followed by a significant thickening by 5 and 15 minutes (+3.6 ± 0.6 μm and +4.0 ± 0.6 μm, respectively, both p <0.001). Post-exercise retinal thickness returned to baseline by 30 minutes. This trend was present throughout the most layers of the retina, with significant changes in the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer complex, (-1.3 ± 0.1 μm, +0.6 ± 0.1 μm and +0.7 ± 0.1 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for all), in the inner nuclear layer at 1 and 5 minutes (-0.8 ± 0.1 μm and +0.8 ± 0.1 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for both), in the outer nuclear layer-photoreceptor inner segment complex at 5 minute (+2.3 ± 0.4 μm, p <0.001 for all) and in the interdigitation zone-retinal pigment epithelium complex at 1 and 15 minutes (-3.3 ± 0.4 μm and +1.8 ± 0.4 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for both). There was no significant change in choroidal thickness; however, we could detect a tendency towards thinning at 1, 15, and 30 minutes following exercise. The observed changes in thickness change did not correlate with performance. Similar trends were observed in both professional and amateur sportsmen (n = 15 and n = 6, respectively). The absolute changes in choroidal thickness did not show any correlation with the thickness changes of the intraretinal layers.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our study implies that in young adults, intense physical exercise has an acute effect on the granular layers of the retina, resulting in thinning followed by rebound thickening before normalization. We could not identify any clear correlation with either choroidal changes or performance that might explain our observations, and hence the exact mechanism warrants further clarification. We believe that a combination of vascular and mechanic changes is behind the observed trends. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:12:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-62281bfda8964a768eda76ad9818d544 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1932-6203 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T04:12:12Z |
| publishDate | 2022-01-01 |
| publisher | Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
| record_format | Article |
| series | PLoS ONE |
| spelling | doaj.art-62281bfda8964a768eda76ad9818d5442022-12-22T03:03:04ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01175e026877010.1371/journal.pone.0268770The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults.Irén SzalaiAnita CsorbaFanni PályaTian JingEndre HorváthEdit BosnyákIstván GyöreZoltán Zsolt NagyDelia Cabrera DeBucMiklós TóthGábor Márk Somfai<h4>Purpose</h4>There is abundant evidence on the benefits of physical activity on cardiovascular health. However, there are only few data on the acute effects of physical exercise on the retina and choroid. Our aim was the in vivo examination of chorioretinal alterations following short intense physical activity by spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT).<h4>Methods</h4>Twenty-one eyes of 21 healthy, young subjects (mean age 22.5 ± 4.1 years, 15 males and 6 females) were recruited. Macular scanning with a SD-OCT was performed before and following a vita maxima-type physical strain exercise on a rowing ergometer until complete fatigue. Follow-up OCT scans were performed 1, 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes following the exercise. The OCT images were exported and analyzed using our custom-built OCTRIMA 3D software and the thickness of 7 retinal layers was calculated, along with semi-automated measurement of the choroidal thickness. One-way ANOVA analysis was performed followed by Dunnett post hoc test for the thickness change compared to baseline and the correlation between performance and thickness change has also been calculated. The level of significance was set at 0.001.<h4>Results</h4>We observed a significant thinning of the total retina 1 minute post-exercise (-7.3 ± 0.6 μm, p < 0.001) which was followed by a significant thickening by 5 and 15 minutes (+3.6 ± 0.6 μm and +4.0 ± 0.6 μm, respectively, both p <0.001). Post-exercise retinal thickness returned to baseline by 30 minutes. This trend was present throughout the most layers of the retina, with significant changes in the ganglion cell-inner plexiform layer complex, (-1.3 ± 0.1 μm, +0.6 ± 0.1 μm and +0.7 ± 0.1 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for all), in the inner nuclear layer at 1 and 5 minutes (-0.8 ± 0.1 μm and +0.8 ± 0.1 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for both), in the outer nuclear layer-photoreceptor inner segment complex at 5 minute (+2.3 ± 0.4 μm, p <0.001 for all) and in the interdigitation zone-retinal pigment epithelium complex at 1 and 15 minutes (-3.3 ± 0.4 μm and +1.8 ± 0.4 μm, respectively, p <0.001 for both). There was no significant change in choroidal thickness; however, we could detect a tendency towards thinning at 1, 15, and 30 minutes following exercise. The observed changes in thickness change did not correlate with performance. Similar trends were observed in both professional and amateur sportsmen (n = 15 and n = 6, respectively). The absolute changes in choroidal thickness did not show any correlation with the thickness changes of the intraretinal layers.<h4>Conclusions</h4>Our study implies that in young adults, intense physical exercise has an acute effect on the granular layers of the retina, resulting in thinning followed by rebound thickening before normalization. We could not identify any clear correlation with either choroidal changes or performance that might explain our observations, and hence the exact mechanism warrants further clarification. We believe that a combination of vascular and mechanic changes is behind the observed trends.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268770 |
| spellingShingle | Irén Szalai Anita Csorba Fanni Pálya Tian Jing Endre Horváth Edit Bosnyák István Györe Zoltán Zsolt Nagy Delia Cabrera DeBuc Miklós Tóth Gábor Márk Somfai The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. PLoS ONE |
| title | The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. |
| title_full | The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. |
| title_fullStr | The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. |
| title_full_unstemmed | The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. |
| title_short | The assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults. |
| title_sort | assessment of acute chorioretinal changes due to intensive physical exercise in young adults |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268770 |
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