Influence of arterial hypertension and diet-induced atherosclerosis on macular drusen.

Purpose: To evaluate whether development of macular drusen is influenced by experimentally induced chronic arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis.

Methods: The prospective experimental study included 93 eyes of 51 elderly rhesus monkeys. The total study group was divided into groups with experimental arterial hypertension ( n=22), diet-induced atherosclerosis ( n=10), or both arterial hypertension and atherosclerosis ( n=29) and a control group without arterial hypertension or atherosclerosis ( n=32). Using color wide-angle fundus photographs taken at the beginning and the end of the study, age-related macular degeneration was graded by counting the number and estimating the mean size of drusen in the macular region.

Results: In the monkeys with arterial hypertension, the count and area of the macular drusen and the change in number and size of macular drusen during the follow-up period were significantly ( P<0.05) higher than in the monkeys of the control group. Correspondingly, the count and size of macular drusen were significantly ( P<0.05) correlated with the duration of arterial hypertension. In contrast, monkeys with only atherosclerosis did not vary significantly ( P>0.10) from monkeys of the control group in number and size of drusen. The macular drusen parameters were statistically ( P>0.20) independent of the duration of atherosclerosis. Similarly, the atherosclerotic monkeys and the monkeys of the control group did not vary significantly ( P>0.30) in the change of the macular drusen parameters during the follow-up period.

Conclusions: Development of macular drusen as part of age-related macular degeneration in rhesus monkeys may be associated with experimentally induced arterial hypertension. It does not seem to be influenced by diet-induced atherosclerosis.