Trial of eye supplements for severe nearsightedness ends; no results yet

A study in Mexico that gave adults with severe nearsightedness a daily supplement made from yellow plant pigments has appeared on the US government’s public trial registry, already marked as finished. The record, posted on November 10, 2026, describes 70 people who took pills containing lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin for six months.¹ No results have been posted.¹

The sponsor is the Asociación para Evitar la Ceguera en México, a Mexican eye-care organization whose name means “Association to Prevent Blindness in Mexico.”¹ The study started on December 14, 2023, and collected its main data by May 18, 2026, according to the record.¹ That means it was entered on the registry about six months after it finished.

What the trial set out to do

The study enrolled people with high myopia, the medical term for severe nearsightedness, where distant things look blurry and strong glasses are usually needed.¹ The registry calls it a Phase 2 trial, a mid-sized test that usually comes before larger studies.¹

Participants took the three-pigment supplement by mouth for six months.¹ Their results were to be compared with a control group: other patients with high myopia who did not take the supplement.¹ The record does not say that the control group took a placebo (a dummy pill), and it does not say how people were assigned to each group.¹

The summary says the researchers wanted to see whether the pills affect how sensitive the retina is, the light-sensing layer at the back of the eye.¹ They measured this with microperimetry, a test that maps how well small spots in the center of the retina respond to faint light.¹

How the trial planned to judge success

The main result listed in the record is a change in contrast sensitivity after six months, with an extra check at three months.¹ Contrast sensitivity is the ability to see things that do not stand out sharply from their background, such as a grey shape on a slightly lighter grey. It is recorded on a scale called LogCS.¹

There is a small mismatch in the record. The summary describes retinal sensitivity measured with microperimetry, while the main listed outcome is contrast sensitivity.¹ These are two different tests. When results are posted, readers can check which measure the study treats as its main answer.

What it does not show yet

Because no results are public, this record cannot tell anyone whether the supplements changed eyesight in nearsighted people.¹ It only shows what was tested, in how many people, and for how long.

Several other questions remain open from the record alone:

• Whether people were assigned to groups at random, which helps make a fair comparison.
• Whether participants or researchers knew who was taking the pills, which can affect vision tests that depend on the person’s responses.
• What dose was used and whether anyone had side effects.
• Whether any change would last after people stopped the pills.

The record lists none of these details.¹ Six months is also a short time compared with how slowly eye changes in severe nearsightedness can develop.

Who is behind it

The only sponsor listed is the Mexican eye-care association.¹ The record does not name a supplement company as a funder or collaborator, and it does not say which product was used.¹

That matters because other recent studies of the same three pigments have had industry ties. A separate US trial of the same combination, run by Insight Eyecare Specialties (doing business as Vision Source Eyecare), compares the supplement brand MacuHealth with a placebo.² A trial listing site names MacuHealth as an industry sponsor of that study.³ That trial looks at pigment levels in the skin, not vision. It aimed to enroll about 60 adults and was still listed as recruiting, with main data collection planned to end on October 29, 2026.²

How it fits the field

Lutein, zeaxanthin and meso-zeaxanthin are yellow-orange pigments found in rich amounts in the macula, the small central part of the retina used for sharp, detailed vision.⁴ Lutein and zeaxanthin are plentiful in green leafy vegetables.⁴ Researchers describe these pigments as antioxidants and as a filter for blue light.⁴

Most earlier research has looked at age-related macular degeneration, a common cause of vision loss in older people, or at healthy adults. A 2016 analysis in the journal Nutrients, by researchers at five medical research centers in China, pooled 20 controlled trials covering 938 people with macular degeneration and 826 healthy people.⁵ It found that the supplements raised the amount of pigment in the macula, with larger rises at higher doses.⁵ The authors also reported bigger increases when meso-zeaxanthin was included and when people took the pills for longer than 12 months.⁵ Raising pigment levels is not the same as showing better vision or less disease.

Meso-zeaxanthin has been debated. Some in the eye-supplement field have argued it is not needed in pills, because the body makes it in the eye from lutein and food sources of it are rare.⁵ John Nolan, a researcher at Waterford Institute of Technology in Ireland who has long supported adding meso-zeaxanthin to eye supplements, told NutraIngredients:⁵

The notion (and this is a notion) that retinal meso-zeaxanthin is wholly and solely derived from dietary lutein remains unclear and not fully tested.

Contrast sensitivity, the main measure in the Mexican trial, has been studied with these pigments before. A 2017 trial published in the journal Foods gave a daily three-pigment capsule or a placebo for six months to 48 healthy young adults who spent at least six hours a day looking at screens.⁴ Thirty-five took the supplement and 13 took the placebo.⁴ After six months, the supplement group showed improvements in contrast sensitivity, glare and eye strain compared with placebo, the authors reported.⁴ That was a small study in young people with normal eyes, so it does not show what happens in severely nearsighted eyes.

None of these earlier studies looked at people with high myopia. That is the gap the Mexican trial was set up to test.¹

What to watch next

The record says results have not yet been posted.¹ The next step to watch is a results summary on the registry or a paper in a peer-reviewed journal. Key things to check when it appears:

• Whether the supplement group differed from the untreated group on contrast sensitivity at three and six months.
• What the microperimetry tests of the retina showed.
• How the groups were formed and whether the comparison was blinded.
• Any side effects, and who supplied the pills.

Separately, results from the US skin-pigment trial of the same three ingredients may also appear, since its planned end date has passed.² Biohack will follow both.