Aging of the retina. Report 3

PURPOSE. To study the development and progression of stage I-II retinopathy (RP I-II) under the influence of the age factor (AF). METHODS. A statistical analysis was conducted on a naturalistic cohort of initially healthy 7959 male members of locomotive crews of the Transbaikal Railway aged 18–66 years, observed from 2008 to 2013. The study assessed the development and progression of RP I-II under the influence of AF. Stepwise multifactorial analysis, 2×2 contingency tables, Kaplan–Meier and Cox proportional hazards models were applied. Relative risk was also calculated. RESULTS. Chronological years (CYs) of life, as indicators of the age factor, produced mutually exclusive outcomes in mathematical models, thus revealing statistical heterogeneity and demonstrating specific identifying characteristics of a trigger factor, by which they can be detected in the cell and their damaging effect studied. CONCLUSION. The formation of RP differs across specific CYs of life and is determined by the influence of each year as an independent trigger factor. The impact of the AF may also vary across specific ranges. The underlying process of early-stage retinal damage due to aging is the gradual loss of neurovascular structures (NVSs) of the microcirculatory bed (MCB). These findings highlight the need to identify specific quantitative and qualitative ultrastructural and biochemical markers of aging in neural and endothelial cells of the ocular MCB at different CYs of life, which is crucial for restoring normal MCB and retinal function and potentially delaying or reversing age-related diseases before the irreversible loss of NVSs.