[Practical application of ophthalmic nutraceuticals in patients with dry form of age-related macular degeneration]

Development and progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is associated with insufficiency of protective antioxidant systems of the body. Nutraceutical medications can positively affect the course of the disease and the visual functions of patients with AMD.

To conduct a placebo-controlled clinical monitoring of visual functions in patients with dry AMD while taking a drug Complex that corresponds to the AREDS 2 formula.

The study included 90 people in 3 equivalent parallel groups, two of which were represented by patients with AMD who took the Complex for 3-6 months or Placebo for 3 months. The third group included healthy subjects of the same age. In addition to standard eye examination, participants underwent evaluation of the macular pigment optical density (MPOD), spatial-frequency contrast sensitivity (CS), photostress test, and reading parameters on the Salzburg Reading Desk device. The changes of blood plasma antioxidant activity (AOA) were also evaluated in the main group.

By day 90 of the study, patients of the main group showed statistically significant (p<0.001) growth of MPOD from 0.24±0.13 to 0.32±0.1, reduction of photostress recovery time from 68.2±17.8 to 57.3±17.5 seconds, improvement of high-spatial-frequency CS - from 25.0±8.2 to 30.6±6.8 dB, increase of near visual acuity logMAR from 0.22±0.04 to 0.19±0.03 and reading speed, and decrease of reading mistakes. Statistically significant (p<0.05) reduction of in AOA was seen during the observation period from 1.52±0.16 to 1.68±0.16. Patients of the main group who received the Complex for 180 days demonstrated additional improvements of visual functions.

The drug Complex corresponding to the AREDS 2 formula contributes to a significant increase in MPOD, improvements of visual functions and overall antioxidant status of patients, which confirms the feasibility of its use in patients with dry AMD.