Effect of an antioxidant supplement containing high dose lutein and zeaxanthin on macular pigment and skin carotenoid levels

• Published in: Scientific reports Vol. 10; no. 1; p. 10262
• Main Authors: Obana, Akira, Gohto, Yuko, Nakazawa, Risa, Moriyama, Takanobu, Gellermann, Werner, Bernstein, Paul S.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 24.06.2020; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 692/308; 692/700; Adult; Antioxidants; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Ascorbic acid; Body mass index; Carotenoids; Carotenoids - analysis; Dietary Supplements; Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; Female; Healthy Volunteers; Humanities and Social Sciences; Humans; Lutein - administration & dosage; Macula Lutea - chemistry; Macula Lutea - drug effects; Macular Degeneration - prevention & control; Macular Pigment - analysis; Male; Middle Aged; multidisciplinary; Optical density; Prospective Studies; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Skin - drug effects; Spectroscopy; Variance analysis; Vitamin E; Zeaxanthin; Zeaxanthins - administration & dosage
• DOI: 10.1038/s41598-020-66962-2
• ISSN: 2045-2322

The effect of a high dose lutein/zeaxanthin supplement on macular pigment optical density (MPOD) and skin carotenoid (SC) levels in healthy subjects was investigated. This is a prospective, single-arm, open-label study. Subjects were 16 Japanese, age 26–57 years. Subjects took a supplement containing 20 mg/day of lutein, 4 mg/day of zeaxanthin, and other antioxidants (vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, copper) for 16 weeks. MPOD levels were measured by a two-wavelength autofluorescence imaging technique. SC levels were measured by reflection spectroscopy. Total volume of MPOD within 9° eccentricity significantly increased by week 8 and continued to increase until week 16 ( p  < 0.0001, two-way factorial ANOVA). The increase rate of MPOD was significantly higher in subjects with body mass index (BMI) less than 25 kg/m 2 (n = 13) compared to those of 25 kg/m 2 and higher (n = 3). SC levels increased significantly by week 4 and continued to increase until week 16 ( p  < 0.0001, two-way factorial ANOVA). All subjects completed the study without any serious adverse events. These results demonstrated the effectiveness of a high dose lutein/zeaxanthin supplement for MPOD volume and SC levels without serious adverse events.