Meriva® May Help with Relapsing Eye Diseases

ANCONA, ItalyA recent Italian study published in Clinical Ophtalmology reported on the potential therapeutic role of curcumin and its efficacy in eye relapsing diseases, such as anterior uveitis, and other eye inflammatory and degenerative conditions, such as dry eye, maculopathy, glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy (2010:4:1201-1206). Curcumin has been successfully applied to treat inflammatory conditions in experimental research and in clinical trials. The study evaluated the efficacy of an adjunctive-to-traditional treatment with Norflox tablets (curcumin-phosphatidylcholine complex; as Meriva®, from Indena) administered twice a day in recurrent anterior uveitis of different etiologies. The study group consisted of 106 patients who completed a 12-month follow-up therapeutic period. Patients were divided into three main groups of different uveitis origin: group 1 (autoimmune uveitis), group 2 (herpetic uveitis) and group 3 (different etiologies of uveitis). The primary end point was the evaluation of relapses frequency in all treated patients, before and after Norflox treatment, followed by the number of relapse in the three etiological groups. Wilcoxon signed-rank test showed a P<0.001 in all groups. The secondary end points were the evaluation of relapse severity and of the overall quality of life. The results showed Norflox was well-tolerated and could reduce eye discomfort symptoms and signs after a few weeks of treatment in more than 80 percent of patients.