Consumption of Coffee and Tea Is Associated with Macular Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness: Results from the UK Biobank

Abstract

Coffee and tea drinking are thought to be protective for the development and progression of neurodegenerative disorders. This study aims to investigate associations between coffee and tea consumption with macular retinal nerve fiber layer (mRNFL) thickness, a marker of neurodegeneration. After quality control and eligibility screening, 35,557 out of 67,321 United Kingdom (UK) Biobank participants from six assessment centers were included in this cross-sectional study. In the touchscreen questionnaire, participants were asked how many cups of coffee and tea were consumed daily on average over the last year. Self-reported coffee and tea consumption were divided into four categories including 0 cup/day, 0.5–1 cups/day, 2–3 cups/day, and ≥4 cups/day, respectively. The mRNFL thickness was measured by the optical coherence tomography (Topcon 3D OCT-1000 Mark II) and automatically analyzed by segmentation algorithms. After adjusting for covariates, coffee consumption was significantly associated with an increased mRNFL thickness (β = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.01~0.25), which was more prominent in those who drank 2~3 cups coffee per day (β = 0.16, 95% CI = 0.03~0.30). The mRNFL thickness was also significantly increased in tea drinkers (β = 0.13, 95% CI = 0.01~0.26), especially for those who drank more than 4 cups of tea per day (β = 0.15, 95% CI = 0.01~0.29). The positive associations with mRNFL thickness, indicating that both coffee and tea consumptions had likely neuroprotective potentials. Causal links and underlying mechanisms for these associations should be explored further.