Atorvastatin (Lipitor) may play a role in reducing diabetic retinal complications, with improvement of vascular resistance and decrease in the mean peak systolic flow velocities of the ophthalmic and central retinal artery, according to this Turkish study.

Forty-five patients with Type II diabetes were included in the double-blinded, placebo-controlled study. The diabetic patients were divided into three subgroups: Group 1 was comprised of 15 patients with nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy (NPDR); Group 2 was comprised of 15 patients with proliferative diabetic retinopathy (PDR); Group 3 was a placebo group of eight patients with NPDR and seven patients with PDR. The patients in Groups 1 and 2 (atorvastatin group) received 10 mg atorvastatin daily for 10 weeks. Pre- and posttreatment serum levels of total cholesterol (TC), low-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (LDL-C), high-density lipoprotein-cholesterol (HDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) were recorded. Researchers evaluated ocular blood flow velocities of the ophthalmic and central retinal arteries by color Doppler Imaging before and after the treatment in each group.

The baseline hemodynamic parameters were similar between atorvastatin and placebo groups. Atorvastatin significantly decreased serum levels of TC, LDL-C and TGs in Groups 1 and 2 compared with pretreatment levels. The mean peak systolic flow velocities (PSV) of the ophthalmic artery in Group 2 and the mean PSV and resistive indices of the central retinal artery in Groups 1 and 2 patients decreased significantly after atorvastatin treatment, whereas the mean end diastolic flow velocity of the ophthalmic artery and central retinal artery did not change. No statistically significant difference was evident in ocular blood flow velocities in Group 3. The authors point out, however, that further studies with large numbers of patients are needed to determine the long-term results of this medication.

Researchers at UCLA investigated the relationship between abnormal contrast sensitivity and abnormal color vision among human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people with normal visual acuity, and sought host factors that predict these abnormalities.

The noninterventional cross-sectional study included 71 HIV-infected patients with visual acuity of 20/25 or better, clear media, and no vision-threatening retinal lesions. Researchers determined visual function using the Pelli-Robson contrast sensitivity test and the Farnsworth-Munsell 100-Hue color test (FM-100). They compared results with published values for normal populations and measures of HIV disease severity, then evaluated two levels of impairment for each visual function. "Mild dysfunction" was defined as 1 or greater standard deviation (SD) but less than 2 SD from normal means. "Abnormal" was defined as 2 or greater SD from normal means.

RESULTS: The prevalence of abnormal contrast sensitivity was 7 percent; the prevalence of abnormal color vision was 9.9 percent. Investigators did not identify relationships between impaired contrast sensitivity and impaired color vision. Impaired color vision was associated with increasing age. They were unable to identify significant correlations between either contrast sensitivity or color vision values and the following factors: current or nadir (lowest previous) CD4+ T-lymphocyte count, HIV blood level and Karnofsky score. The authors concluded that abnormal contrast sensitivity and abnormal color vision can occur independently in HIV-infected individuals and can be present in the absence of severe immunosuppression.