The leader in fatty acid testing and research OmegaQuant Analytics, has been awarded a NIH Phase I Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant to investigate whether patterns of fatty acids in the blood can help predict the future risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and glaucoma.
According to the CDC, AMD and glaucoma are two of the most common and debilitating eye diseases, affecting an estimated 20 million and 4 million people in the United States, respectively. The economic impact of these conditions is substantial and growing as our population continues to age, with an estimate of over $373 billion in annual lost productivity by 2050 in the United States alone.
Although established risk factors—including smoking, high blood pressure, obesity, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, poor diet, sun exposure, age, sex, and genetics—can help identify individuals at greater risk, their combined predictive ability remains limited. Earlier identification of people at increased risk could create opportunities for more targeted monitoring and preventive strategies before significant vision loss occurs.
The newly funded project, “Developing blood fatty acid-based algorithms as early predictors of macular degeneration and glaucoma: Applying machine learning to harmonized data from prospective cohort studies,” will investigate whether red bloodcell fatty acid patterns can provide additional predictive information beyond traditional risk factors.
Research has suggested that circulating fatty acids, particularly omega-3 fatty acids, may provide valuable information about eye health risk. However, the potential roles of other fatty acids—including trans, omega-6, saturated, and monounsaturated fatty acids—remain less clear. The new study will take a broader approach by examining patterns across multiple fatty acids rather than focusing on a single family.
Using Machine Learning to Identify New Risk Patterns
During Phase I, researchers will harmonize fatty acid measurements, eye health outcomes, and other health data from several well-established prospective cohort studies: the Framingham Heart Study (FHS), Women’s Health Initiative Memory Study (WHIMS), Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis (MESA), and Boston Puerto Rican Health Study (BPRHS).
Together, these cohorts will provide data from up to 19,922 individuals, including information on AMD or glaucoma outcomes over an average of more than 10 years of follow-up.
Using statistical and machine-learning approaches, researchers will evaluate whether baseline red blood cell fatty acid patterns can predict the development of AMD and glaucoma. The project is designed to generate new potential fatty acid-based risk metrics. The study will also explore relationships between fatty acid patterns and optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) measures, such as retinal thickness and vessel density.
Building Toward Earlier Identification
The ultimate goal of the research is to determine whether a blood fatty acid profile—used alone or alongside established risk factors—could improve the ability to identify individuals at increased risk for AMD or glaucoma.
If Phase I demonstrates proof-of-concept feasibility, the findings could provide the foundation for larger prospective studies and further refinement and validation of the predictive models in Phase II.
“Our goal is to determine whether the fatty acid patterns we can measure in a blood sample contain information that could help identify eye disease risk years before serious vision loss occurs,” said Dr. Bill Harris, Principal Investigator, Founder of OmegaQuant, and President of the Fatty Acid Research Institute (FARI).
OmegaQuant is well positioned to translate this research into a practical testing approach. For more than 15 years, the laboratory has specialized in fatty acid measurement and interpretation. Further, it supports a large and growing customer base of researchers, clinicians, businesses, and individuals, including an increasing number of optometrists, ophthalmologists and other eye health experts.
“If we can develop and ultimately validate these fatty acid-based risk profiles, they could provide clinicians with another tool for identifying patients who may benefit from earlier monitoring or preventive intervention,” Dr. Harris added.
The Phase I project represents an important first step toward determining whether fatty acid biomarkers can enhance current approaches to predicting eye disease risk. Ultimately, OmegaQuant aims to develop a clinically useful blood fatty acid profile that can complement existing risk factors and support earlier, more personalized approaches to protecting eye health.
Source: OmegaQuant Analytics
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