zeaxanthin and Chronic-Disease

Recent evidence introduces the possibility that lutein and zeaxanthin may protect against the development of the two common eye diseases of aging, cataract and macular degeneration. This potential and the lack of other effective means to slow the progression of macular degeneration have fueled high public interest in the health benefits of lutein and zeaxanthin and the proliferation of supplements containing them on pharmacy shelves. An understanding of the biologic consequences of limiting or supplementing with these carotenoids is only beginning to emerge. Some epidemiologic evidence supports a role in eye disease and, to a lesser extent, cancer and cardiovascular disease. However, the overall body of evidence is insufficient to conclude that increasing levels of lutein and zeaxanthin, specifically, will confer an important health benefit. Future advances in scientific research are required to gain a better understanding of the biologic mechanisms of their possible role in preventing disease. Additional research is also required to understand the effect of their consumption, independent of other nutrients in fruits and vegetables, on human health. The newly advanced ability to measure levels of lutein and zeaxanthin in the retina in vivo creates a unique opportunity to contribute some of this needed evidence.

Topics: Aging; beta Carotene; Cataract; Chronic Disease; Fruit; Heart Diseases; Humans; Lutein; Macular Degeneration; Neoplasms; Stroke; Tissue Distribution; Vegetables; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins

Biomarkers provide potential to objectively measure the intake of nutrients and foods, and thereby to strengthen nutritional epidemiology association studies. However, there are only a few established intake biomarkers, mostly based on recovery of nutrients or their metabolites in urine. Blood concentration measures provide a potential biomarker source for many additional nutritional variables, but their use in disease-association studies requires further development.. The aim of this study was to apply recently proposed serum-based carotenoid and tocopherol intake biomarkers and to examine their association with the incidence of major cardiovascular diseases, cancers, and diabetes in a subset of Women's Health Initiative (WHI) cohorts.. Serum concentrations of α- and β-carotene, lutein plus zeaxanthin (L + Z), and α-tocopherol were routinely measured at baseline in a subset of 5488 enrollees in WHI cohorts. Intake biomarkers for these 4 micronutrients, obtained by combining serum concentrations with participant characteristics, were recently proposed using a 153-woman feeding study within WHI. These biomarker equations are augmented here to include pertinent disease risk factors and are associated with subsequent chronic disease incidence in this WHI subset.. HRs for a doubling of micronutrient intake differed only moderately from the null for the outcomes considered. However, somewhat lower risks of specific cardiovascular outcomes, breast cancer, and diabetes were associated with a higher intake of α- and β-carotene, lower risk of diabetes was associated with higher L + Z intake, and elevated risks of certain cardiovascular outcomes were associated with a higher intake of α-tocopherol. These patterns remained following the exclusion of baseline users of dietary supplements.. Concentration biomarkers can be calculated from blood specimens obtained in large epidemiologic cohorts and applied directly in disease-association analyses, without relying on self-reported dietary data. Observed associations between carotenoid and tocopherol biomarkers and chronic disease risk could be usefully evaluated further using stored serum specimens on the entire WHI cohort. This study was registered at www.clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00000611.

Topics: Aged; Biomarkers; Cardiovascular Diseases; Carotenoids; Chronic Disease; Cohort Studies; Diabetes Mellitus; Dietary Supplements; Female; Humans; Lutein; Middle Aged; Neoplasms; Nutritional Status; Risk Factors; Tocopherols; United States; Zeaxanthins

Combined with the increasing life expectancy, chronic medical conditions have gradually become the dominant cause of death and disability, and multimorbidity became an increasingly serious public health challenge. However, most existing studies have focused on the coexistence of specific diseases or relatively few diseases. Given one person may have multiple diseases at the same time, we applied Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to systematically evaluate one's 10-year mortality. In this study, we explored the effects of nutrients and physical activity on CCI using National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2013-2014 data.. The study sample consists of one continuous cycle (2013-2014) of NHANES, and 4386 subjects were included in the study. Nutrients intake was measured by dietary recall, and physical activity was evaluated by the Global Physical Activity Questionnaire respectively. Besides, CCI was the sum of the scores assigned for each medical condition. We utilized zero-inflated negative binomial (ZINB) model to investigate the effects in nutrients intake and physical activity on CCI by adjusting for seven sociodemographic characteristics, smoking and drinking.. Among the 4386 participants, 2018 (68.7%) are Non-Hispanic White, over half participants (78.6%) drink. In count part (CCI ≥ 0), holding other variables constant, the expected change in CCI for a one-unit increase in niacin is 1.621(RR = 1.621, p = 0.016), in lutein + zeaxanthin is 0.974 (RR = 0.974, p = 0.031), and in sedentary time is 1.035 (RR = 1.035, p = 0.005). Moreover, those who do not have vigorous work activity would be more likely to have higher CCI than those who have (RR = 1.275, P = 0.045). In logit part (CCI = 0), the log odds of having CCI equals zero would increase by 0.541 and 0.708 for every additional vigorous recreational activity (OR = 0.541, p = 0.004) and moderate recreational activity (OR = 0.708, p = 0.017) respectively.. Lutein and zeaxanthin intake, vigorous work activity, vigorous recreational activity and moderate recreational activity may be good for one's health. Rather, increasing niacin intake and sedentary activity may be likely to raise 10-year mortality. Our findings may be significant for preventing diseases and improving health, furthermore, reducing people's financial burden on healthcare.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Chronic Disease; Comorbidity; Diet; Energy Intake; Exercise; Female; Humans; Lutein; Male; Middle Aged; Niacin; Nutrition Surveys; Regression Analysis; Zeaxanthins

Macular pigment (MP) plays an important role in visual function and in the protection of the retina from oxidative damage. It is not known whether glaucoma, a progressive neurodegenerative disease of the optic nerve, is associated with alterations in MP. This study was designed to investigate the relationship, if any, between the optical density of MP optical density (MPOD) and glaucoma.. 40 subjects (23 males, 17 females) with open angle glaucoma (mean age 69 ±11), and 54 normal controls (23 males, 31 females) without ocular disease (mean age 66 ±11), visual acuity (VA) >6/18, were recruited, and underwent a comprehensive eye examination including biomicroscopy, fundoscopy, Goldmann tonometry and visual field assessment, using the 24-2 SITA-fast algorithm on the Humphrey visual field analyser (II-i Series). MPOD, at 0.5° of retinal eccentricity was determined, for all subjects, using heterochromatic flicker photometry.. Median (IQR) MPOD for subjects with glaucoma was 0.23 (0.42) compared to 0.36 (0.44) for controls. The difference in MPOD between the glaucoma cases and controls was statistically significant (z=-2.158, p=0.031). There was no significant correlation (p>0.05) between MPOD and disease severity.. These findings suggest that MPOD is lower in patients with glaucoma. Further investigation is needed to determine the significance of MP in glaucoma, its relationship to glare symptoms in glaucoma and to assess what role therapeutic strategies aimed at increasing MP levels could have in the management of glaucoma.

Topics: Aged; Case-Control Studies; Chronic Disease; Female; Glaucoma, Open-Angle; Humans; Intraocular Pressure; Lutein; Male; Photometry; Retina; Tonometry, Ocular; Visual Acuity; Visual Field Tests; Visual Fields; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins

To evaluate macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC) and in normal subjects.. MPOD was measured by autofluorescence spectrometry by using a two-wavelength. Central retinal thickness (CRT) was measured with optical coherence tomography. Statistical analyses were performed to determine factors associated with MPOD.. Ninety-four eyes of 94 normal control subjects, 123 eyes of 70 patients with chronic CSC, and 74 eyes of 41 patients with acute CSC were included. The mean MPOD was 0.548 density unit (DU; 95% confidence interval [CI]; 0.516-0.580) in the control group. Stepwise regression analysis of the control group showed that CRT was associated positively with MPOD (P = 0.0079). The mean MPOD was 0.386 DU (95% CI, 0.352-0.420) in the eyes with chronic CSC, 0.443 DU (95% CI, 0.401-0.484) in fellow eyes with chronic CSC, 0.542 DU (95% CI, 0.493-0.590) in affected eyes with acute CSC, and 0.528 DU (95% CI, 0.475-0.582) in fellow eyes with acute CSC. Stepwise regression analysis showed a significant association between eyes with a lower MPOD and affected eyes with chronic CSC (P = 0.0126) and fellow eyes with chronic CSC (P = 0.0023) and a thinner central retina (P = 0.0016).. MPOD may decrease in eyes with chronic CSC and in the fellow eyes. Low MPOD may indicate a risk of chronic CSC, and a decrease in MPOD may be accelerated by thinning of the central retina.

Topics: Acute Disease; Central Serous Chorioretinopathy; Chronic Disease; Coloring Agents; Cross-Sectional Studies; Female; Fluorescein Angiography; Humans; Indocyanine Green; Lutein; Male; Middle Aged; Retina; Retinal Pigments; Spectrometry, Fluorescence; Tomography, Optical Coherence; Visual Acuity; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins

Individual plasma carotenoids have been associated with various chronic diseases but little is known about the relationship between total plasma carotenoids and risk factors for chronic diseases. In the Physicians' Health Study, we examined 492 men free of CVD and cancer for the relationship between total plasma carotenoids (the sum of alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene, zeaxanthin, lutein and beta-cryptoxanthin) and a wide variety of factors that predict chronic disease. Multivariate linear and logistic regression was performed to calculate parameter estimates (95% CI) and OR (95% CI) for total plasma carotenoids. In linear regression models, BMI, hypertension, alcohol intake and plasma levels of each lipid parameter and a-tocopherol significantly predicted levels of total plasma carotenoids. Upon adjustment for multiple chronic disease risk factors, the OR for levels of total plasma carotenoids greater than or equal to the median (> or=1.301 micromol/l) was statistically significant for current smoking (OR 0.21; 95% CI 0.06, 0.77), weekly alcohol ingestion (OR 2.30; 95% CI 1.06, 4.99), daily alcohol ingestion (OR 2.46; 95% CI 1.29, 4.67), each 100 mg/l increase in total cholesterol (OR 0.73; 95% CI 0.58, 0.91), LDL-cholesterol (OR 1.48; 95% CI 1.17, 1.89) and HDL-cholesterol (OR 1.58; 95% CI 1.26, 1.99), each 100 mg/ml increase in intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (OR 0.70; 95% CI 0.53, 0.93) and each 10 micromol/l increase in alpha-tocopherol (OR 1.33; 95% CI 1.12, 1.57), using logistic regression. Few lifestyle and clinical risk factors appear to be related to levels of total plasma carotenoids; however, levels of biomarkers such as plasma lipids and alpha-tocopherol may be strongly related.

Topics: Aged; Alcohol Drinking; alpha-Tocopherol; beta Carotene; Cardiovascular Diseases; Carotenoids; Cholesterol; Chronic Disease; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cryptoxanthins; Humans; Life Style; Logistic Models; Lutein; Lycopene; Male; Middle Aged; Risk; Risk Factors; Smoking; Vitamins; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins

Low circulating levels of carotenoids have been associated with cardiovascular disease. The distribution of different carotenoids in blood may have an impact on the cardioprotective capacity. The aim of the present study was to determine the plasma levels of 6 major carotenoids in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) and relate the findings to clinical, metabolic and immune parameters.. Plasma levels of oxygenated carotenoids (lutein, zeaxanthin, beta-cryptoxanthin) and hydrocarbon carotenoids (alpha-carotene, beta-carotene, lycopene) were determined in 39 patients with acute coronary syndrome, 50 patients with stable CAD and 50 controls. Serological assays for inflammatory activity and flow cytometrical analysis of lymphocyte subsets were performed. Both patient groups had significantly lower plasma levels of oxygenated carotenoids, in particular lutein+zeaxanthin, compared to controls. Low levels of oxygenated carotenoids were associated with smoking, high body mass index (BMI), low high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol and, to a minor degree, inflammatory activity. Plasma levels of lutein+zeaxanthin were independently associated with the proportions of natural killer (NK) cells, but not with other lymphocytes, in blood.. Among carotenoids, lutein+zeaxanthin and beta-cryptoxanthin were significantly reduced in CAD patients independent of clinical setting. The levels were correlated to a number of established cardiovascular risk factors. In addition, the relationship between NK cells and lutein+zeaxanthin may indicate a particular role for certain carotenoids in the immunological scenario of CAD.

Topics: Acute Disease; Aged; Angina Pectoris; beta Carotene; Biomarkers; C-Reactive Protein; Carotenoids; Chronic Disease; Coronary Artery Disease; Cryptoxanthins; Female; Humans; Interleukin-6; Killer Cells, Natural; Lutein; Lycopene; Lymphocyte Count; Male; Middle Aged; Myocardial Ischemia; Xanthophylls; Zeaxanthins