Carnosine
Based on research performed mainly by Russian scientists, it is believed that carnosine is effective both in preventing and treating vision issues affecting eye lenses. The ability of carnosine to support lens and vision health is believed to be due to its antioxidant properties and its ability to inhibit a chemical process called glycation. Glycation leads to deleterious substances called AGEs (advanced glycation end products). AGEs are chemical complexes that result from common but undesirable reactions between blood sugars, such as glucose, and proteins in many parts of our bodies, including the lenses of our eyes. The sugar-protein complexes become chemically cross-linked and degrade cellular functions.

N-Acetylcarnosine (NAC)
N-acetylcarnosine (NAC), like its parent compound, carnosine, occurs naturally throughout the human body. Research with N-acetylcarnosine, as with carnosine, demonstrates that it is effective not only in supporting healthy vision but also in increasing the transmissivity of the lens to light. There is however an important chemical difference between carnosine and N-acetylcarnosine that makes N-acetylcarnosine ideal for use in eye drops.

Carnosine is relatively insoluble in lipids (fats and fatty compounds), whereas N-acetylcarnosine is relatively soluble in lipids (as well as in water). This means that N-acetylcarnosine may pass through the lipid membranes of the corneal and lens cells more easily than carnosine, and may thereby gain access more readily to the cells’ interior, which is primarily aqueous. There, the N-acetylcarnosine is gradually broken down to carnosine, which then exerts its beneficial effects.