Choriocapillaris Perfusion after 8 Weeks of High-Speed Circuit Training in Older Healthy Adults

Abstract

Purpose

The aim of this study was to examine the impact of an 8-week high-speed circuit resistance training program (HSCT) on choriocapillaris density (CCD) in healthy older adults.

Methods

Eighteen cognitively normal older adults were enrolled and randomly assigned to either the HSCT or the control group (CON). The HSCT group was comprised of 11 participants who trained three times a week for eight weeks, while the CON group consisted of 7 participants who did not engage in formal training. Optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) was employed to image both eyes of each subject at baseline and at the 8-week follow-up. The choriocapillaris density (CCD) of 2.5 mm in diameter centered on the fovea was measured.

Results

The average age of the HSCT group was 70.3 ± 5.7 years, which was not different from the CON group (average age: 71.6 ± 5.2 years, p = 0.62). There were no significant changes in CCD between baseline and the 8-week follow-up in either the HSCT or the CON group—specifically, the baseline CCD in the HSCT group was 63.3% ± 5% (Mean ± SD), which did not differ significantly from the 8-week follow-up after HSCT training (64.7% ± 4%, p = 0.19). Likewise, there was no significant difference in CCD between baseline and the 8-week follow-up in the CON group (63.3% ± 3% and 62.7% ± 5%, respectively, p = 0.66).

Conclusion

CCD appeared to remain stable after 8 weeks of HSCT in healthy older individuals, possibly due to autoregulation. Further research with extended training may be necessary to verify these findings.

Keywords:

• Aging
• choriocapillaris
• high-speed circuit training
• optical coherence tomography angiography
• vascular perfusion

Authors’ contributions

Hong Jiang, Joseph F. Signorile, and Jianhua Wang were involved in all aspects of the project concept, design, data collection, analysis and interpretation, and manuscript preparation. Ava-Gaye Simms was involved in data collection, analysis, and manuscript preparation. Abdulrahman Allaf and Gustavo Rosa Gameiro were involved in the manuscript preparation.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author (HJ) upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by NIH Center Grant P30 EY014801, NINDS 1R01NS111115-01 (Wang), the Ed and Ethel Moor Alzheimer’s Disease Research Program (Florida Health, 20A05, to Jiang), and a grant from Research to Prevent Blindness (RPB).