Zinc supplementation inhibits complement activation in age-related macular degeneration.

What Was Tested

This randomized controlled trial looks at Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and Copper (Supplement).

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of blindness in the Western world.

AMD is a multifactorial disorder but complement-mediated inflammation at the level of the retina plays a pivotal role.

Who Took Part

The abstract describes 72 patients taking part.

By PubMed's age tags, the people studied were older adults and people over 80, both men and women.

Serum complement catabolism-defined as the C3d/C3 ratio-was measured at baseline, throughout the three months of supplementation and after discontinuation of zinc administration.

Additionally, downstream inhibition of complement catabolism was evaluated by measurement of anaphylatoxin C5a.

How the Study Was Run

The researchers set it up as a randomized and open-label study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Everyone knew when Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc was being given (open label), which is simpler to run but leaves more room for expectations to affect what is reported.

What Was Measured

AMD is a multifactorial disorder but complement-mediated inflammation at the level of the retina plays a pivotal role.

Topics PubMed links to this paper include Cells, Cultured, Complement Activation, Complement C3, Complement C3d, Complement C5a, Complement Factor B and Complement Factor H.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized and open-label study of Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc and Copper (Supplement) in 72 patients.

The publication is from 2014 (PloS one), a journal based in United States.

More context: the Vitamin D, K2, Magnesium and Zinc compound page and the Copper (Supplement) compound page, all human trials.