Efficacy of Commercially Available Nutritional Supplements: Analysis of Serum Uptake, Macular Pigment Optical Density and Visual Functional Response.

To compare the change in serum carotenoids, macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and visual function with the intake of two commercially available nutritional supplements. Participants were given a 24-week supply of a lipid-based micronized liquid medical food, Lumega-Z™ (LM), containing 28 mg of the macular carotenoids lutein (L), zeaxanthin (Z) and -zeaxanthin (MZ), or given PreserVision™ AREDS 2 Formula (gel-caps; PV) containing 12 mg of the macular carotenoids L and Z, but no reported MZ. Serum levels of L, Z and MZ were obtained at baseline and after 12 weeks.

Efficacy of Diacetate Esters of Macular Carotenoids: Effect of Supplementation on Macular Pigment.

The accumulation of the carotenoids lutein, zeaxanthin, and mesozeaxanthin in the center of the human retina, and known as the or macular pigment, is believed to protect the retina from age-related macular degeneration. Since the macular pigment is of dietary origin, supplements containing the relevant carotenoids are readily available. In this study, we compared the changes in macular pigment over a 24-week supplementation period for two groups of 24 subjects each assigned to either of two supplement formulations, 20 mg/day of lutein or 20 mg equivalent free carotenoids of a combination of diacetate esters of the macular carotenoids.

Lens density measurements by two independent psychophysical techniques.

Background: Cataract, a leading cause of vision impairment, is due to the lens becoming excessively optically dense. Change in the lens optical density (LOD) could be a useful indicator of incipient nuclear cataract and would necessitate the development of accurate measurement techniques. Mapcat sf™ is a heterochromatic flicker photometer for measuring macular pigment optical density (MPOD) under photopic conditions.

Innovative Troxler-free measurement of macular pigment and lens density with correction of the former for the aging lens.

Simplified measurement of macular pigment optical density (MPOD) is important because of the ocular health benefits that are attributed to these retinal carotenoids. Here, we describe a novel instrument designed for this purpose, based on heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP), which removes a number of difficulties that subjects often experience with traditional HFP. The instrument generates 1.

Light distributions on the retina: relevance to macular pigment photoprotection.

Light exposure has been implicated in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study was designed to measure cumulative light distribution on the retina to determine whether it peaked in the macula. An eye-tracker recorded the subject's field of view and pupil size, and superimposed the gaze position.

Dose-dependent response of serum lutein and macular pigment optical density to supplementation with lutein esters.

We conducted a study to determine the effect of different doses of a lutein supplement on serum lutein concentration and macular pigment optical density (MPOD). Lutein is one of the major components of human macular pigment. Eighty-seven subjects received daily doses of 5, 10, or 20 mg of lutein, or a placebo, over a 140 day period.

Optical anisotropy of the human cornea determined with a polarizing microscope.

We have investigated the optical anisotropy of the human cornea using a polarizing microscope normally used for optical mineralogy studies. The central part of the cornea was removed from 14 eyes (seven donors). With the sample placed on the microscope stage, we consistently observed hyperbolic isogyres characteristic of a negative biaxial material.

Macular pigment, photopigments, and melanin: distributions in young subjects determined by four-wavelength reflectometry.

We have developed an objective procedure, using a modified retinal camera, to determine macular pigment (MP) optical density distributions in the human retina. Using two multi-band filters, reflectance maps of the retinas of young subjects (<25 years old) were obtained at 460, 528, 610 and 670 nm, without pupil dilation. The log-transformed maps were combined linearly to yield optical density maps of MP, cone and rod photopigments, and melanin.

Macular pigment response to a supplement containing meso-zeaxanthin, lutein and zeaxanthin.

Background: Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease with multiple risk factors, many of which appear to involve oxidative stress. Macular pigment, with its antioxidant and light-screening properties, is thought to be protective against AMD. A result has been the appearance of dietary supplements containing the macular carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin.

Dose-ranging study of lutein supplementation in persons aged 60 years or older.

Purpose: To examine the dose-response relationship between oral lutein supplementation and serum lutein concentrations in persons aged 60 years and older, with or without age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Methods: Forty-five participants with no AMD, large drusen, or advanced AMD, were randomized to receive one of three doses (2.5, 5, or 10 mg) of lutein for 6 months and to be observed for 6 additional months after the cessation of lutein supplementation.

Macular pigment and the edge hypothesis of flicker photometry.

Heterochromatic flicker photometry is commonly used to measure macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in the human retina. It has been proposed, and accepted by many, that the MPOD so measured represents the value at a retinal location corresponding to the edge of the flickering, circular stimulus. We have investigated this proposal by using a series of annular stimuli to determine the MPOD distribution in the central 1.

Heterochromatic flicker photometry.

Measurement of the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) by heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP) is accomplished by viewing a small circular stimulus that alternates between a test wavelength that is absorbed by the MP (typically--blue, 460 nm) and a reference wavelength that is not absorbed (typically-green, 540 nm). Flicker observed by the subject is reduced to a null point by adjusting the intensity of the former while viewing the stimulus centrally, and then peripherally. A higher intensity, I, of the blue component of the stimulus is needed under central viewing conditions owing to attenuation by the MP.

Lutein and zeaxanthin dietary supplements raise macular pigment density and serum concentrations of these carotenoids in humans.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is thought to be the result of a lifetime of oxidative insult that results in photoreceptor death within the macula. Increased risk of AMD may result from low levels of lutein and zeaxanthin (macular pigment) in the diet, serum or retina, and excessive exposure to blue light. Through its light-screening capacity and antioxidant activity, macular pigment may reduce photooxidation in the central retina.

Biologic mechanisms of the protective role of lutein and zeaxanthin in the eye.

The macular region of the primate retina is yellow in color due to the presence of the macular pigment, composed of two dietary xanthophylls, lutein and zeaxanthin, and another xanthophyll, meso-zeaxanthin. The latter is presumably formed from either lutein or zeaxanthin in the retina. By absorbing blue-light, the macular pigment protects the underlying photoreceptor cell layer from light damage, possibly initiated by the formation of reactive oxygen species during a photosensitized reaction.