What eyes reveal about cardiovascular disease risk, aging

The tiny blood vessels in the eyes might hold the key to predicting a person’s risk of developing heart disease and how fast they’re biologically aging, according to researchers at McMaster University and the Population Health Research Institute, informs McMaster University.  

The study, published in Sciences Advances , suggests that retinal scans could one day serve as a non-invasive window into the body’s overall vascular health and biological aging status, offering new opportunities for early detection and intervention.

“By connecting retinal scans, genetics, and blood biomarkers, we have uncovered molecular pathways that help explain how aging affects the vascular system,” says Marie Pigeyre, senior author of the study and associate professor in the Department of Medicine. “The eye provides a unique, non-invasive view into the body’s circulatory system. Changes in the retinal blood vessels often mirror changes occurring throughout the body’s small vessels.”

To conduct the study, researchers combined retinal scans, genetic data and blood sample analyses from over 74,000 participants across four major cohorts.

They found that people with simpler, less branched blood vessels were at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and showed signs of biological aging, such as higher inflammation and shorter lifespan.

Currently, assessing age-related diseases like heart disease, stroke and dementia requires multiple tests. The hope is that retinal scans alone could eventually be used as a quick, accessible way to assess aging and cardiovascular risk. But for now, the full picture still requires deeper clinical assessment.

Another important aspect of the study came from reviewing blood biomarkers and genetic data: Researchers uncovered not just associations, but potential biological causes behind changes in the eye’s blood vessels. This helped them identify specific proteins that may drive aging and disease.

Two of the more notable proteins are MMP12 and IgG–Fc receptor IIb — both linked to inflammation and vascular aging. These proteins could be potential targets for future drugs, Pigeyre says.

“Our findings point to potential drug targets for slowing vascular aging, reducing the burden of cardiovascular diseases, and ultimately improving lifespan,” she says.

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