Short-term Outcomes of Saffron Supplementation in Patients with Age-related Macular Degeneration: A Double-blind, Placebo-controlled, Randomized Trial

Abstract In modern pharmacological medicine, saffron is used for various purposes due to its antioxidant effect. This study evaluated retinal function after treatment with saffron supplementation during a follow-up period of ۶ months to provide further insight into the efficacy and safety considerations of this treatment. Sixty patients with wet or dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD) were randomly assigned to receive oral saffron ۳۰ mg/d or placebo supplementation for ۶ months. Optical coherence tomography (OCT), electroretinography (ERG), fluorescein angiography, and visual acuity testing were performed at baseline and ۳ and ۶ months after treatment. The main outcome measures were OCT, ERG amplitude, and implicit time. Six months after treatment, no statistically significant decrease in OCT results was observed between the groups with dry AMD (P = ۰.۲۸۲). However, there was a statistically significant increase in ERG results between the groups at ۳ months after treatment (P = ۰.۰۲۷). In addition, there was a significant decrease in OCT results between groups with wet AMD at the follow-up (P = ۰.۰۵). Finally, there was a significant increase in ERG findings between the groups with wet AMD at ۳ months after treatment (P = ۰.۰۱), but these changes decreased at ۶ months after treatment (P = ۰.۲۱۳). Daily supplementation with ۳۰ mg of saffron for ۶ months may result in a mid-term, significant improvement in retinal function in patients with AMD.Â