Author: Sean Wells
The antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin, along with Vitamin E, may help protect the lens of the eyes from oxidative stress, according to a new study. While Vitamin E is well-established as an important antioxidant vitamin, these findings add to a new-but-increasing body of supporting evidence for the important role of lutein and zeaxanthin in promoting eye health.
These two antioxidants—which are also carotenoids—have already gained attention from their use in both the AREDS and AREDS 2 studies, which examine their application in effectively treating age-related macular degeneration. ARMD is the leading cause of legal blindness for people over 55 years of age in the western world, and is projected to affect some 3 million adults in the U.S. by 2020.
The new study was performed by researchers at Sun Yat-Sen University in China and the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University in Massachusetts. For the initial phase of the study, researchers immersed cells of the human ocular lens in lutein, zeaxanthin or alpha-tocopherol for 48 hours. The cells were then exposed to a highly oxidizing compound H2O2–most commonly known as hydrogen peroxide–for one hour. Afterward, various markers of oxidative stress, DNA damage and cell viability were measured.
Results indicated that while the exposure to hydrogen peroxide significantly increased levels of oxidized proteins, lipid peroxidation and DNA damage, in all cases damage was reduced when the cells had received supplemental lutein, zeaxanthin and alpha-tocopherol. In terms of effectiveness, all three compounds were shown to have comparable protective value.
“These data indicate that lutein or zeaxanthin supplemenatation protects lens protein, lipid and DNA from oxidative damage and improves intracellular redox status upon oxidative stress,” wrote the researchers.
These results definitely serve to bolster the reputation of lutein and zeaxanthin, in this case placing them on par with Vitamin E as proven antioxidant benefactors for the eye. With the results of AREDS 2 expected to arrive next year, it will be interesting to see if additional support emerges for these two promising compounds in the interim.
No comments:
Post a Comment