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Status unknownNCT04742829Updated Feb 8, 2021

Effects of a Therapy With INTRAVIT® Tablets in Patients With Diabetic Retinopathy

An interventional study of INTRAVIT ® in Diabetic Retinopathy, sponsored by University of Molise. Status unknown at 1 site in Italy. Open to participants aged 20 Years to 70 Years. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2021-02-08.

Sponsored by University of Molise · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care

The sponsor has not verified this record recently (last verified Feb 2021), so the status shown — last known as Active, not recruiting — may be out of date.

From the registry’s dates

  • Registered 3 months after the study started (first participant enrolled Oct 2020, registered Jan 2021).
Phase
Not applicable
Study type
Interventional
Enrollment
40
Allocation
Randomized
Ages
20 Years to 70 Years
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Evaluation of the effect of a therapy with INTRAVIT® tablets, on retinal edema considering also the central retinal sensitivity (Microperimetry) and the visual acuity in course of diabetic retinopathy.

Read the detailed description

Retinal edema is an abnormal accumulation of fluids in the retina, is a complication of certain eye diseases such as diabetic retinopathy, exudative macular degeneration, surgical or para - surgical practices and trauma. The main factors involved in the formation of retinal edema are due to structural alterations of blood vessels, formation of neovessels and phlogistic phenomena. INTRAVIT® is a product based on extracts of Artemisia, Turmeric, Pineapple and Black Pepper, formulated in a targeted way to support the treatment of retinal edema and treatments with intravitreal injections. Artemisia (artemisinin and its derivatives) has proven to be able to counteract the activity of VEGF, VEGFR, metal protein (MM2 and MMP9) and integrins αvβ3, all factors involved in the angiogenetic process. Turmeric (curcumin) has been shown to be able to counteract the phlogistic processes in various districts in addition to acting on the reduction of angiogenesis. The Pineapple (Bromelain) for its proteolytic activity has been able to favor the resorption of the edema and the reduction of the phlogistic phenomena. Black pepper (piperine) has proven to be able to counteract the phlogistic processes and encourage the bioavailability of some natural extracts such as curcumin.

The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effect of a therapy with INTRAVIT® tablets, on retinal edema considering also the central retinal sensitivity (Microperimetry) and visual acuity in the course of diabetic retinopathy. Diabetic patients with mild non-proliferant diabetic retinopathy (at an early stage) with macular edema will be enlisted. 40 patients, of which 20 will be treated with INTRAVIT® tablets (2 tablets per day morning and evening before meals), and 20 who will not take any medical therapy to overlap with the activity described for INTRAVIT® (control group). Patients covered by the inclusion criteria will undergo, before the start of treatment, a full eye examination and OCT (optical coherence tomography) for the measurement of foveal thickness. Based on the preordered randomization scheme they will be assigned to Group 1 or Group 2 (control group). Patients will undergo a first examination at the time of recruitment (T0), and subsequent visits (T1-T2) will fall to 3 and 6 months.The data collection sheet will report all adverse effects potentially attributable to the administration of the food supplement INTRAVIT® tablets.

02

Conditions studied

  • Diabetic Retinopathy

Keywords

  • diabetic retinopathy
  • macula edema
  • microperimetry
  • curcumin
  • artemisin
  • piperine
  • bromelain
03

In context

Retinal Diseases

815 studies on the registry are indexed under Retinal Diseases; 105 are open to participants now.

This study's enrollment of 40 is below the median of 60 across 500 interventional studies indexed under Retinal Diseases.

Browse Retinal Diseases studies →

Lead sponsor

University of Molise is the lead sponsor of 18 studies on the registry; 2 are open to participants now.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

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Who can participate

Ages eligible
20 Years to 70 Years
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

  • Diabetes type I and type II patients;
  • Between 20 and 70 years of age;
  • Age of diabetes not less than 5 years and not more than 15;
  • Mild non-proliferating diabetic retinopathy, limited to the presence of some microaneurysms;
  • Patients in diabetic compensation;
  • Visual acuity 5/10 natural or correct;
  • Patients even if hypertensive, with or without anti-hypertensive therapy in place, provided they are compensated;
  • Patients with good visualization of the ocular fundus.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Patients with concurrent eye diseases outside diabetic retinopathy;
  • Patients with less than natural or correct 5/10 visual acuity;
  • Patients treated with other vasoprotective and antioxidant preparations or having taken them in the last month;
  • Patients with significant systemic or metabolic diseases, except diabetes;
  • Patients with unbalanced Diabetes disorder;
  • Patients undergoing laser treatment or eye surgery (e.g. cataract);
  • Patients who take or should take, during the observation period, preparations for direct or indirect activity on the retina of the type that can be superimposed on INTRAVIT ®.
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Study design

Phase
Not applicable
Primary purpose
Supportive care
Allocation
Randomized
Intervention model
Parallel assignment
Masking
None (open label)
Enrollment
40 participants (actual)

Study arms

  • Experimental
    GROUP 1

    Patients treated with INTRAVIT® tablets

    Dietary Supplement: INTRAVIT ®

  • No intervention
    GROUP 2

    patients who will not take any medical therapy to overlap with the activity described for INTRAVIT® tablets.

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementINTRAVIT ®

    2 tablets per day morning and evening before meals

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. number of participants with signs of improvement/worsening of diabetic retinopathy

    report presence/absence of signs with Yes/NO relative to: microaneurysms, haemorrhages, soft exudates, hard exudates, venous beading, IRMA, new vessels on optical discs, new vessels outside the optical discs, cystoid edema, capillary occlusions, degenerative alterations and vein size.

    Time frame: 6 months

  2. number of participants in a certain stage of diabetic retinopathy according to the ETDRS modified AAO 2003

    careful evaluation of funduscopic signs (e.g exudates, neovases, micronaneurysms) to be able to stadiate patients

    Time frame: 6 months

  3. number of patients with improved/worsened visual acuity

    visual acuity measurement with ETDRS boards. The number of letters seen by the patient at each check-up visit will be noted.

    Time frame: 6 months

  4. number of patients with improved/worsened macular edema

    Foveal thickness (measured with Optical Coherence Tomography) at each check-up visit will be noted.

    Time frame: 6 months

Secondary outcomes

  1. number of patients with improved/worsened blood parameters related to diabetes

    blood sugar (mg/dl) using a rapid glucose test at each check-up visit will be noted and glycated hemoglobin (%) will be assesed with venous blood sampling at the beginning of the study and at 3 and 6 months.

    Time frame: 6 months

07

Study locations

1 site
  • University of Molise
    Campobasso, Italy
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Wang W, Lo ACY. Diabetic Retinopathy: Pathophysiology and Treatments. Int J Mol Sci. 2018 Jun 20;19(6):1816. doi: 10.3390/ijms19061816. PubMed 29925789 ↗
  • Cheung N, Mitchell P, Wong TY. Diabetic retinopathy. Lancet. 2010 Jul 10;376(9735):124-36. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(09)62124-3. Epub 2010 Jun 26. PubMed 20580421 ↗
  • Yang F, Yu J, Ke F, Lan M, Li D, Tan K, Ling J, Wang Y, Wu K, Li D. Curcumin Alleviates Diabetic Retinopathy in Experimental Diabetic Rats. Ophthalmic Res. 2018;60(1):43-54. doi: 10.1159/000486574. Epub 2018 Mar 29. PubMed 29597206 ↗
  • Radomska-Lesniewska DM, Osiecka-Iwan A, Hyc A, Gozdz A, Dabrowska AM, Skopinski P. Therapeutic potential of curcumin in eye diseases. Cent Eur J Immunol. 2019;44(2):181-189. doi: 10.5114/ceji.2019.87070. Epub 2019 Jul 30. PubMed 31530988 ↗
  • Mohr T, Desser L. Plant proteolytic enzyme papain abrogates angiogenic activation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) in vitro. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2013 Sep 21;13:231. doi: 10.1186/1472-6882-13-231. PubMed 24053149 ↗
  • Al-Malki AL. Shikimic acid from Artemisia absinthium inhibits protein glycation in diabetic rats. Int J Biol Macromol. 2019 Feb 1;122:1212-1216. doi: 10.1016/j.ijbiomac.2018.09.072. Epub 2018 Sep 15. PubMed 30227208 ↗
  • Kumar S, Sharma S, Vasudeva N. Screening of antidiabetic and antihyperlipidemic potential of oil from Piper longum and piperine with their possible mechanism. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2013 Sep;14(13):1723-36. doi: 10.1517/14656566.2013.815725. Epub 2013 Jul 23. PubMed 23875561 ↗
  • Pescosolido N, Giannotti R, Plateroti AM, Pascarella A, Nebbioso M. Curcumin: therapeutical potential in ophthalmology. Planta Med. 2014 Mar;80(4):249-54. doi: 10.1055/s-0033-1351074. Epub 2013 Dec 9. PubMed 24323538 ↗
  • Maugeri A, Mazzone MG, Giuliano F, Vinciguerra M, Basile G, Barchitta M, Agodi A. Curcumin Modulates DNA Methyltransferase Functions in a Cellular Model of Diabetic Retinopathy. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2018 Jul 2;2018:5407482. doi: 10.1155/2018/5407482. eCollection 2018. PubMed 30057682 ↗
  • Wilkinson CP, Ferris FL 3rd, Klein RE, Lee PP, Agardh CD, Davis M, Dills D, Kampik A, Pararajasegaram R, Verdaguer JT; Global Diabetic Retinopathy Project Group. Proposed international clinical diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema disease severity scales. Ophthalmology. 2003 Sep;110(9):1677-82. doi: 10.1016/S0161-6420(03)00475-5. PubMed 13129861 ↗
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Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Feb 8, 2021, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
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Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT04742829
Lead sponsor
University of Molise
Responsible party
Ciro Costagliola (Full Professor in Ophthalmology, University of Molise) — Principal investigator
First posted
Feb 8, 2021
Start date
Oct 1, 2020
Primary completion
Mar 8, 2021 (estimated)
Completion
Mar 8, 2021 (estimated)
Last update
Feb 8, 2021

Oversight

FDA-regulated drug
No
FDA-regulated device
No
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

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