Dietary supplements and drugs available in India along with the mechanism of action and clinical trial data for the medical management of age related macular degeneration (AMD)

Abstract

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the leading cause of blindness among elderly population which diminishes the visual quality. The main objective behind this review is to give the brief information about the dietary supplements and drugs which are available in India along with the mechanism of action and clinical trial data for the management for AMD. Also, we have commented, wherever any additional clinical trial data or regulatory approvals would be needed for using the pharmaceutical or nutraceutical product in Indian patients. The dietary supplements reviewed in this article includes Lutein and Zeaxanthin which are also referred as macular pigments and have important role in absorption of blue light prior reaching to the retina and have antioxidant functions, Zinc which has structural role in antioxidant enzymes, Copper which is cofactor for several ocular-enzymes, Astaxanthin, Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Resveratrol and Glutathione which are antioxidants. We have also reviewed Brimonidine for the management of non-neovascular AMD. Brimonidine is an alpha 2-adrenergic agonist but along with that it has neuroprotective as well as cytoprotective activities because of which it can be used for the management of non-neovascular AMD. In this review we have discussed many clinical trials for different combinations of above-mentioned dietary supplements and out of which AREDS 2 clinical trial was conducted on comparatively larger number of patients and for longer study duration.