Vitamins and Mineral Supplements for Retinitis Pigmentosa.

Ying Zhao,Lailin Zhang,Kai Feng,Xuejing Lu,Jinhua Pan,Ruibao Liu

doi:10.1155/2019/8524607

Abstract

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of inherited progressive retinal dystrophies that is present with progressive vision loss, night blindness, visual field reduction, and retinal pigmentation of the fundus. RP is an uncommon but clinically important disease. It is progressive and potentially blinding, and to date, no cure for RP has been identified and clinical interventions to retard disease progression are limited. Because of the nature of this disease, there has been great interest in the development of therapeutic interventions that may prevent its progression or restore the loss of visual function. Studies have indicated a possible role of vitamins and minerals in preventing the progression of RP: vitamin A has been reported to have an important role in the function of retinal photoreceptors; lutein is assumed to play a preventive role in fundus diseases; and docosahexaenoic acid, which is found within photoreceptor cell membranes, may have a functional role in preventing the progression of RP. Therefore, this study aimed to systematically review data from randomized clinical trials (RCTs) evaluating the safety and efficacy of vitamins and mineral supplements for the treatment of RP. We searched through relevant trials in the Cochrane Library, PubMed, Embase, Ovid, AMED, OpenGrey, ISRCTN registry, http://ClinicalTrials.gov, and the WHO ICTRP ranging from the respective dates of foundation to June 18, 2018. We reviewed eight randomized control trials (RCTs) with data for 1231 patients. The results indicated that patients with RP may experience delayed disease progression with vitamin and mineral supplementation. In a broader sense, this review suggests that the future trials on RP patients should consider more vitamins or mineral supplements and other outcome measures from the trials included in this review.

Highlights

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of hereditary retinal diseases characterized by progressive degeneration of rod and cone photoreceptors
RP includes nonsyndromic retinitis pigmentosa (NSRP) and syndromic RP (SRP). e clinical manifestations of NSRP patients include ocular abnormalities, and NSRP can be divided as follows according to the genetic characteristics: autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa (ADRP), autosomal recessive retinitis pigmentosa (ARRP), and X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) [3]
A carotenoid, is assumed to play a preventive role in fundus diseases [13,14,15,16] and has been deemed to be a possible therapeutic agent that can help in preserving the visual function of patients with RP. erefore, we speculated that vitamins and mineral supplements might represent one of the candidates that can avert photoreceptor apoptosis, preventing further development of RP

Summary

Background

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a group of hereditary retinal diseases characterized by progressive degeneration of rod and cone photoreceptors. Patients often develop loss or impairment of night vision during puberty, peripheral vision loss appearing in the form of tubular vision, and even central vision loss in the late stage due to degeneration of rod cells and cone cells along with the progressive loss of function. A carotenoid, is assumed to play a preventive role in fundus diseases [13,14,15,16] and has been deemed to be a possible therapeutic agent that can help in preserving the visual function of patients with RP. Erefore, we speculated that vitamins and mineral supplements might represent one of the candidates that can avert photoreceptor apoptosis, preventing further development of RP A carotenoid, is assumed to play a preventive role in fundus diseases [13,14,15,16] and has been deemed to be a possible therapeutic agent that can help in preserving the visual function of patients with RP. erefore, we speculated that vitamins and mineral supplements might represent one of the candidates that can avert photoreceptor apoptosis, preventing further development of RP

Criteria for considering Studies for is Review

Results

Participants