Effects of Ramadan Fasting on Micronutrients and Their Correlations with the Ocular Axial Length and Anterior Chamber Depth

Introduction: The present study aimed to assess the effects of Ramadan fasting on micronutrients and their correlations with ocular biometry. Methods: This prospective study was conducted on 89 healthy volunteers (51 males and 38 females) with the mean of 34.98±9.10 years in Mashhad, Iran. Participants received complete ophthalmic and systemic examinations one week before and one week after the holy month of Ramadan in 2015. Subjects with no history of systemic and ophthalmic diseases were enrolled in the study. Blood samples were obtained from all the participants in the morning in both phases of the study. Levels of micronutrients were measured in the blood samples using the Hitachi 717 analyzer (Hitachi, Japan). In addition, IOLMaster (Carl Zeiss Meditec AG, Germany) was applied to determine the ocular axial length (AL) and anterior chamber depth (ACD). Results: No significant differences were observed in the AL and ACD of the subjects before and after Ramadan fasting (P> 0.05). Fasting was found to decrease the levels of uric acid, selenium, sodium, and potassium (P<0.05). However, serum phosphor was observed to increase after the fasting period (P=0.032). No changes were reported in the concentrations of the other micronutrients, including urea, calcium, iron, zinc, creatinine, and albumin (P> 0.05). Moreover, no significant association was observed between the AL and ACD with the concentrations of the micronutrients during Ramadan (P> 0.05). Conclusion: According to the results, fasting had no significant effects on the overall health and ocular biometry of the fasting individuals during Ramadan. Therefore, it seems that Ramadan fasting is a safe for healthy adults.