The Effect of Multivitamin/Mineral Supplements on Age-Related Cataracts: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Nutrients

Li-Quan Zhao¹  Liang-Mao Li¹  Huang Zhu² 

[1] Department of Ophthalmology, No. 181 Hospital of the PLA, No.1 Xinqiaoyuan Road, Guilin 541002, China; E-Mail:;Department of Ophthalmology, Xinhua Hospital Affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, No. 1665 Kongjiang Road, Shanghai 200092, China; E-Mail:

关键词: dietary supplements;    cataract;    vitamins;    minerals;    meta-analysis;   

DOI  :  10.3390/nu6030931

来源: mdpi

【 摘 要 】

Antioxidant vitamins supplements have been suggested as a strategy to decrease the risk of age-related cataract development. However, the results from observational studies and interventional trials of associations between antioxidant vitamins A, C, and E and cataract development have been inconsistent. We aim to evaluate the effectiveness of multivitamin/mineral supplements for decreasing the risk of age-related cataracts by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis. In September 2013, we searched multiple databases to identify relevant studies including both cohort studies and randomized controlled trials (RCTs). A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled relative risks (RR) with a 95% confidence interval (CI). Twelve prospective cohort studies and two RCTs were included. Pooled results from the cohort studies indicated that multivitamin/mineral supplements have a significant beneficial effect in decreasing the risk of nuclear cataracts (RR: 0.73; 95% CI: 0.64–0.82), cortical cataracts (RR: 0.81; 95% CI: 0.68–0.94), and any cataracts (RR: 0.66; 95% CI: 0.39–0.93). In addition, there were no decreases in the risk of posterior capsular cataracts (RR: 0.96; 95% CI: 0.72–1.20) or cataract surgery (RR: 1.00; 95% CI: 0.92–1.08). The two RCTs demonstrated that multivitamin/mineral supplements could decrease the risk of nuclear cataracts. There is sufficient evidence to support the role of dietary multivitamin/mineral supplements for the decreasing the risk of age-related cataracts.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2014 by the authors; licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.