Study on the relationship between the choroidal thickness and hormone levels with central serous chorioretinopathy

Abstract Objective To investigate whether the choroidal thickness in central serous chorioretinopathy is related to endogenous hormone levels. Methods A case-control study. From July 2020 to October 2021, 60 male patients diagnosed with central serous chorioretinopathy at the ophthalmology clinic of the affiliated Hospital of Zunyi Medical University, and 60 healthy, young and middle-aged men were collected as the control group. There were 53 cases of acute CSC (106 eyes) and 7 cases of chronic CSC (14 eyes). The study and control groups' smoking, drinking, and sleeping habits were compared statistically, and BCVA, intraocular pressure, and eye axis were assessed. The macular choroidal thickness was measured by enhanced depth imaging-optical coherence tomography (EDI-OCT) from 2 to 5 p.m, measured at the subfoveal choroidal thickness (SFCT), above the fovea, below, nasal and temporal 750 μm, and the average macular choroidal thickness was the average of the five sites. Blood samples were taken from the control and study groups corresponding to the measuring time, and the levels of adrenaline, norepinephrine, dopamine, cortisol, aldosterone, total testosterone and estradiol were measured by radioimmunoassay. The Chi-square test was used in univariate analysis. Spearman correlation analysis was used to analyze the correlation between continuous numerical variables which did not obey normal distribution. The independent variables of p value < 0.05 in univariate analysis were included in multiple linear regression analysis. Results 1 . There was no significant difference in age, smoking, drinking and sleep habits between the study group and the control group ( p =0.053, 0.099, 0.079, 0.095). 2 . There were significant differences in the average choroidal thickness between the affected eyes and the contralateral eyes in the study group and the control group ( p ＜0.05). There was no significant difference in the average macular choroidal thickness between the affected eyes and the contralateral eyes in the study group ( p >0.05). 3. The levels of norepinephrine and total testosterone in the study group were significantly different from those in the control group ( p < 0.05). 4 . There was a positive correlation between the average macular choroidal thickness and norepinephrine and total testosterone ( p <0.001, r =0.348, r =0.446). Conclusion Average choroidal thickness in macular area of CSC eyes and contralateral eyes increased. Norepinephrine and total testosterone are the main factors affecting the average choroidal thickness in macular area of CSC.