Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016 November, 240(3)

α-Lipoic Acid Treatment Improves Vision-Related Quality of Life in Patients with Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration

YUAN TAO,¹ PENGFEI JIANG,² YUHUA WEI,³ PING WANG,⁴ XIAOLING SUN⁵ and HONG WANG⁶

¹Department of Opthalmology, the Second People's Hospital of Jinan City, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
²Department of Opthalmology, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, P.R. China
³Department of Medicine, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
⁴Department of Surgery, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China
⁵Department of Surgery, Yantai Yuhuangding Hospital, Yantai, Shandong, P.R.China
⁶Department of Opthalmology, Qilu Hospital of Shandong University, Jinan, Shandong, P.R. China

Dry form of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) constitutes 90% of AMD cases, and it is characterized by the formation of drusen under the retina and the slow breakdown of the light-sensing cells in the macula, which causes a gradual loss of central vision. Since oxidative stress is involved in the pathogenesis of dry AMD, α-lipoic acid (LA) with antioxidant properties was selected, and its effect on anti-oxidative markers and visual quality in patients with dry AMD was assessed. A total of 100 dry AMD patients (60-83 years old) were randomly assigned to LA treatment group (n = 50) and placebo control group (n = 50). We measured the serum superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, an important marker of antioxidant defense, best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA), contrast sensitivity, and Chinese-Version Low Vision Quality of Life (CLVQOL) before and after LA or placebo intervention. Pearson correlation coefficients were calculated to explore the relationship between contrast sensitivity values and CLVQOL scores. There was a statistically significant increase in serum SOD activity after LA intervention. The CLVQOL score was improved significantly after LA treatment. The contrast sensitivity measured at middle and low spatial frequency was significantly higher after LA treatment. CLVQOL scores were positively correlated with contrast sensitivity at low spatial frequency (3 cyc/degree) in LA-treated group. These results indicate that LA treatment improves vision-related quality of life in patients with dry AMD probably by increasing antioxidant activity. Thus, LA can be regarded as a promising agent for the treatment of AMD.

keywords —— α-lipoic acid; age-related macular degeneration; antioxidant; Low Vision Quality of Life; superoxide dismutase

© 2016 Tohoku University Medical Press

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Tohoku J. Exp. Med., 2016, 240, 209-214

Correspondence: Hong Wang, Department of Opthalmology, Qilu hospital of Shandong University, No.107, Wenhuaxi Road, Jinan, Shandong 250012, China.

e-mail: whqilu@163.com