Cure8 research brief
The study suggests measurable retinal and choroidal microvascular differences in people with IBD versus controls, which could point to systemic vascular effects of inflammation and offer noninvasive biomarker possibilities for a gut–retina connection.
Clinicians (gastroenterology, ophthalmology), researchers studying IBD biomarkers or ocular manifestations, and patients with IBD who have eye symptoms or are interested in extraintestinal effects.
The paper reports that IBD patients showed increased parafoveal vessel density in both superficial and deep capillary plexuses and greater choriocapillaris blood flow area on OCTA compared with controls.
Ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease showed different patterns for some metrics (for example, UC had higher superficial foveal density; CD had larger foveal avascular zone). The authors suggest these changes may reflect systemic inflammatory vascular effects and propose OCTA metrics as candidate noninvasive biomarkers for a "gut–retina" axis.
The study was a prospective case–control design with 88 IBD patients and 88 matched controls and used standard OCTA scan protocols. The authors note the need for future longitudinal work that adjusts for disease activity and treatments before these measures could be validated as clinical biomarkers.
Results come from a prospective case–control study and are reported in an abstract; the authors emphasize the need for longitudinal studies that control for disease activity and treatments before OCTA metrics can be used clinically.
Review the original publication for the complete reporting, methods, and context.
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