Slowing the progression of geographic atrophy with oral resveratrol, quercetin, and curcumin

Abstract

Purpose : Geographic atrophy (GA) is a progressive form of AMD characterized by sharply defined oval-to-round areas of retinal atrophy which increase in size and coalesce to cause loss of vision affecting more than 5 million people worldwide. Currently, there is no effective treatment for GA. In this study, we evaluated the effects of oral supplementation with resveratrol, quercetin, and curcumin (RQC) on the size and annual GA growth rate in subjects with advanced dry AMD over one year.

Methods : AMD patients with nascent (n=3) or advanced (n=7) GA were recruited from Zaparackas and Knepper, Ltd after IRB approval and written consent. A total of 12 eyes were included in the study consisting of 3 with nascent GA and 9 with advanced GA. Each patient received 200 mg resveratrol, 240 mg quercetin, and 2000 mg curcumin per day for twelve months and had fundus autofluorescence (FAF) images recorded with the Heidelberg Spectralis OCT at three-month intervals. Advanced GA was defined as hypofluorescent regions of macular atrophy greater than 0.15 mm² and was confirmed on OCT images using hyperreflectivity in the choroid region. Nascent GA was defined as regions of atrophy no greater than 0.015 mm². GA area was quantified using a precise and reproducible post-processing procedure with ImageJ software. GA growth rate was reported in mm²/year and square root transformed mm/year.

Results : The annual growth rate for advanced GA was 0.35 ± 0.66 mm²/year (square root transformed 0.10 ± 0.11 mm/year). The growth rate for nascent GA was 0.01 ± 0.02 mm²/year (square root transformed 0.02 ± 0.03 mm/year). Compared with the natural GA growth rate reported by Yehoshua, et al. (2011) of 1.20 ± 0.90 mm²/year (square root transformed 0.18 mm/year), the GA growth rate of subjects taking oral RQC was significantly lower (P=0.003).

Conclusions : The annual rate of GA growth was significantly decreased in subjects taking oral RQC. Our results indicate that RQC may be the first safe and efficacious therapy for the slowing or prevention of GA progression.

This is a 2021 ARVO Annual Meeting abstract.