Statin Use in Relation to Intraocular Pressure, Glaucoma, and Ocular Coherence Tomography Parameters in the UK Biobank

• Published in: Investigative ophthalmology & visual science Vol. 63; no. 5; p. 31
• Main Authors: Kim, Jihye, Kennedy Neary, Marianne T., Aschard, Hugues, Palakkamanil, Mathew M., Do, Ron, Wiggs, Janey L., Khawaja, Anthony P., Pasquale, Louis R., Kang, Jae H.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology 25.05.2022; The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology
• Subjects: Biological Specimen Banks; Clinical and Epidemiologic Research; Cross-Sectional Studies; Glaucoma; Humans; Hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA Reductase Inhibitors - therapeutic use; Intraocular Pressure; Life Sciences; Nerve Fibers; Retinal Ganglion Cells; Santé publique et épidémiologie; Tomography, Optical Coherence - methods; United Kingdom - epidemiology; United Kingdom
• ISSN: 1552-5783; 0146-0404; 1552-5783
• DOI: 10.1167/iovs.63.5.31

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the relationship between statin use and glaucoma-related traits. In a cross-sectional study, we included 118,153 UK Biobank participants with data on statin use and corneal-compensated IOP. In addition, we included 192,283 participants (8982 cases) with data on glaucoma status. After excluding participants with neurodegenerative diseases, 41,638 participants with macular retinal nerve fiber layer thickness (mRNFL) and 41,547 participants with macular ganglion cell inner plexiform layer thickness (mGCIPL) were available for analysis. We examined associations of statin use with IOP, mRNFL, mGCIPL, and glaucoma status utilizing multivariable-adjusted regression models. We assessed whether a glaucoma polygenic risk score (PRS) modified associations. We performed Mendelian randomization (MR) experiments to investigate associations with various glaucoma-related outcomes. Statin users had higher unadjusted mean IOP ± SD than nonusers, but in a multivariable-adjusted model, IOP did not differ by statin use (difference = 0.05 mm Hg, 95% confidence interval [CI] = -0.02 to 0.13, P = 0.17). Similarly, statin use was not associated with prevalent glaucoma (odds ratio [OR] = 1.05, 95% CI = 0.98 to 1.13). Statin use was weakly associated with thinner mRNFL (difference = -0.15 microns, 95% CI = -0.28 to -0.01, P = 0.03) but not with mGCIPL thickness (difference = -0.12 microns, 95% CI = -0.29 to 0.05, P = 0.17). No association was modified by the glaucoma PRS (Pinteraction≥ 0.16). MR experiments showed no evidence for a causal association between the cholesterol-altering effect of statins and several glaucoma traits (inverse weighted variance P ≥ 0.14). We found no evidence of a protective association between statin use and glaucoma or related traits after adjusting for key confounders.