Gulf War Illness: Exploring the Eye-Brain Connection

Abstract

This study will examine potential clinical biomarkers in Gulf War Illness (GWI) that are easily obtained in the eye clinic and apply them to disease stratification. We are conducting a case control study at the Miami VA with the plan to enroll 100 subjects (50 cases with GWI and 50 age and gender matched controls without GWI). We will conduct an eye examination, including imaging of the corneal nerves (peripheral nervous system) and retina and optic nerve (central nervous system). We will also assess for ocular and systemic inflammatory markers. Imaging will be performed in triplicates (to assess reliability) at baseline and again at 1 year (to assess sensitivity to change over time). We will enroll an additional 40 subjects, 20 cases and 20 controls, as a validation cohort. We have 120 enrolled subjects who have completed the first visit, 72 (60 percent) were deployed to the Gulf during 1990-1991. Of those who deployed, 33 were cases with GWI and 39 were controls.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Aug 01, 2021
Accession Number
AD1149415

Entities

People

  • Anat Galor

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Biomedical

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Anesthesia
  • Brain
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Data Storage Systems
  • Eye Diseases
  • Health Services
  • Medical Personnel
  • Muscular Diseases
  • Neurodegeneration
  • Neurosciences
  • Ophthalmology
  • Pain
  • Parkinson'S Disease
  • Peripheral Nervous System
  • Retinal Diseases

Fields of Study

  • Medicine

Readers

  • Gulf War Illness and Chronic Multisymptom Illness in Veterans.
  • Neurotrauma and Rehabilitation Medicine.