AIM: To investigate the change of macular pigment optical density(MPOD)in the patients of obstructive sleep apnea-hypopnea syndrome(OSAHS).

METHODS: Totally 70 OSAHS patients as observation group and 32 healthy subjects as control group with their right eyes were enrolled from Chongqing Emergency Medical Center during January to December of 2019. All the subjects used Visucam 200 to measure the mean/max MPOD.

RESULTS: Both mean/max MPOD(0.0916±0.0149, 0.2675±0.0419Log unit)of OSAHS group are significantly lower than the control group(0.1193±0.0159, 0.3235±0.0400Log unit, P<0.001).There are significant difference of mean/max MPOD between mild(n=12)/moderate(n=17)/severe(n=41)groups divided by AHI(P<0.001). The increasing severity of OSAHS lead to lower mean/max MPOD.Furthermore there is negative correlation between mean/max MPOD and AHI(r=-0.685, -0.492; P<0.001).

CONCLUSION: Our study results suggest that the mean/max MPOD were reduced in the patients of OSAHS. Moreover, the decreased degree of mean/max MPOD is positively related to the severity of OSAHS. It shows that the MPOD of OSAHS have already changed before they feel the significant syndrome. The reducing of MPOD may cause dysfunction of macular and finally rise up to macular disease.