Supplementation with three macular carotenoids in patients with early stage age-related macular degeneration

Abstract

Introduction. Macula lutea is the central part of the retina and it houses carotenoid macular pigments - lutein, zeaxanthin, and meso-zeaxanthin. It is considered that carotenoids can prevent or slow down the progression of the early age-related macular degeneration in some patients. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the effects of supplementation with all three macular pigments on vision quality in patients with early agerelated macular degeneration. Material and Methods. This prospective study included 15 patients (25 eyes in total) with early age-related macular degeneration. All visual tests - visual acuity, glare sensation and contrast sensitivity, were performed at baseline and after 6 months of continuous supplementation with 10 mg lutein, 2 mg zeaxanthin, and 10 mg mesozeaxanthin. Results. The results showed that glare sensitivity improved in 20% of cases. Most of the examined eyes (76%) presented without visual acuity deterioration. Similar results were obtained for the contrast sensitivity test, where in 80% of cases vision quality remained stable or improved. There were no statistically significant differences between average values of examined parameters at baseline and after 6 months of supplementation. Conclusion. In most of the examined eyes (over 75%) visual quality remained stable or improvement of measured parameters was observed. This type of supplementation may improve visual performance or its preservation in patients with early age-related macular degeneration.