Could pond scum help teens see better? new trial tests alga extract for rare eye disease
NCT ID NCT02018692
First seen Jun 27, 2026 · Last updated Jun 27, 2026
Summary
This study tests whether a powder made from a special alga can help preserve or improve vision in teenagers with retinitis pigmentosa, a genetic eye disease that causes vision loss. Thirty participants aged 12-18 will take the alga extract daily for one year. The study will measure changes in their eye function using standard vision tests.
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Study facts
What this study's own registry entry says, in plain language.
- Phase
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Phase 1/2
Runs two stages together: safety and dose first, then whether the treatment works.
- Participants
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About 30 people
The number the study aims to enrol. It can still change while the study runs.
- Expected to start
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Mar 2026
An estimate. Start dates often move.
- Expected to finish
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Dec 2028
An estimate. End dates often move.
- Lead sponsor
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A government agency
The lead sponsor is a government body.
Who can take part
This study's own entry requirements. Only the study team can say for certain whether you qualify.
- Ages
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12 to 18 years
- Sex
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Anyone
- Healthy volunteers
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Not accepted
This study is not open to healthy volunteers. The entry requirements below say who it is open to.
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Copied word for word from the study's registry entry, so the wording is the study team's rather than ours.
Inclusion Criteria: * Written informed consent to participate in the study. * Adolescent 12-18 years old. * Electroretinogram (ERG) responses compatible with the diagnosis of Retinitis Pigmentosa Exclusion Criteria: * Currently a smoker * Current use of vitamin A/ β-carotene supplements * Active arterial disease within 3 months prior to enrolment in the study, e.g. unstable angina, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, stroke, coronary artery bypass graft surgery * History of malignancy, excepting basal or squamous cell skin carcinoma * Females who are pregnant, or breast feeding, or are premenopausal but not using chemical or mechanical contraception * Uncontrolled hypertension, defined either as resting diastolic blood pressure \>95 mmHg (taken from the mean of 3 readings) or as resting systolic blood pressure \>180 mmHg * History of alcohol abuse or drug abuse or both * Intention to engage in vigorous exercise or an aggressive diet regimen * Uncontrolled endocrine or metabolic disease * Participation in another investigational drug study within 4 weeks prior to enrolment * Serious or unstable medical or psychological condition which, in the opinion of the PI, would compromise the subject's safety or successful participation in the study * Initiation of hormone replacement therapy or oral contraceptive therapy within 3 months prior to enrolment
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Conditions
The condition(s) this trial relates to.
As listed by the trial registrant
The condition terms exactly as the trial's registrant entered them.
How to take part
Only the study team decides who joins. These are the ways to reach them.
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The places running it
1 site. The list below names each one and where it is.
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The official record
ClinicalTrials.gov lists the study team's own contact details, including names and phone numbers. We don't republish those.
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A doctor treating you
A doctor who knows your case can contact a study site on your behalf, and can tell you whether this study is worth pursuing at all.
Contacts and locations
Locations
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Goldschleger Eye Research Institute, Sheba Medical Center,
Tel Litwinsky, 52621, Israel
More trials for these conditions
Other studies related to the condition(s) this trial covers.
- Can a single eye injection restore sight in genetic blindness?
- A sharper look at the retina: new imaging technology may spot eye disease earlier
- Stem cell eye transplant aims to halt blindness from rare genetic disease
- Could stem cells restore sight in damaged eyes?
- Gene therapy injection aims to restore sight in rare blindness
- Ground-Level vision test could help retinitis pigmentosa patients walk better