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The results of a new retrospective cohort study suggest that use of curcuma-based dietary supplements (CBNS) may be associated with a reduced risk of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or progression to later disease stages,¹ according to first author Amer F. Alsoudi, MD, of the Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston. He was joined in the study by researchers from the Departments of Ophthalmology at the Byers Eye Institute, the Horngren Family Vitreoretinal Center, Stanford University School of Medicine, and the Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Palo Alto, CA.

CBNS, such as turmeric, are natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agents that may provide benefits against AMD.

The researchers conducted this cohort study to investigate the association between CBNS and the risk of development or progression of AMD. They collected data from the electronic health record research network, TriNetX, a Massachusetts-based company. Patients with and without AMD and those taking or not taking CBNS were included. The main outcomes were the relative risk (RR) of developing non-exudative/exudative/advanced non-exudative AMD or geographic atrophy (GA), blindness, or need for intravitreal antivascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) therapy.

Analysis results

The study included 66,804 patients (mean age 64.9 years), about two-thirds of whom were women taking CBNS, and 1,809,440 patients (mean age 67.0 years), about 55% women not taking CBNS, the investigators reported.

Among the patients with no history of AMD aged 50 years or older who took CBNS, the results showed significant (P< 0.001 for all comparisons) lower risks of developing all forms of AMD and GA, ie, for non-exudative AMD (RR, 0.23; 95% confidence interval (CI), 0.21-0.26), advanced non- exudative AMD or GA (RR, 0.11; 95% CI, 0.07-0.17) and exudative AMD (RR, 0.28; 95% CI, 0.24-0.32) compared with matched patients who not using CBNS.

There was also a lower risk of blindness (RR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.36-0.59) and the need for intravitreal anti-VEGF therapy (RR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.13 -0.17) (P< 0.001 for both comparisons) compared with matched patients not taking CBNS.

Results were also consistent among patients 60 and 70 years of age or older.

Results also showed that in patients with early nonexudative AMD, subsequent cases of CBNS prescription records were associated with lower rates of developing advanced nonexudative AMD or GA (RR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.41-0 .81; P< 0.001) compared with matched patients with early non-exudative AMD without a CBNS prescription record, reported Dr. Alsoudi and colleagues.

The authors concluded that the results suggested that the reduced risk of developing AMD or progression to later stages of AMD was associated with subsequent use of CBNS, but recommended that further studies should confirm these findings, safety, and potential pharmacoprotective mechanisms of CBNS in AMD.

Reference:

1. Alsoudi AF, Wai KM, Koo E, Mruthyunjaya P, Rahimy E. Curcuma-based nutritional supplements and risk of age-related macular degeneration. JAMA Ophthalmol. 2024; Published online 24 October 2024. doi:10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2024.4400