Macular degeneration, carotenoids

COOPER D A, ELDRiDGE A L and PETERS J c (1999) Dietary carotenoids and certain cancers, heart disease and age-related macular degeneration a review of recent research , iVMtr Rev, 57, 201-14. 

Snodderly, D.M., Evidence for protection against age-related macular degeneration by carotenoids and antioxidant vitamins. Am. J. Clin. Nutr, 62, 1448S, 1995. 

In the Unites States, the daily intake of 3-carotene is around 2 mg/day Several epidemiological studies have reported that consumption of carotenoid-rich foods is associated with reduced risks of certain chronic diseases such as cancers, cardiovascular disease, and age-related macular degeneration. These preventive effects of carotenoids may be related to their major function as vitamin A precursors and/or their actions as antioxidants, modulators of the immune response, and inducers of gap-junction communications. Not all carotenoids exert similar protective effects against specific diseases. By reason of the potential use of carotenoids as natural food colorants and/or for their health-promoting effects, research has focused on better understanding how they are absorbed by and metabolized in the human body. 

Schalch, W. (2001). Possible contribution of lutein and zeaxanthin, carotenoids of the macula lutea, to reducing the risk of age-related macular degeneration A review. HKJ Ophthalmology 4 31—42. 

Age-Related Eye Disease Study Research Group (2007), The relationship of dietary carotenoid and vitamin A, E, and C intake with age-related macular degeneration in a case-control study, AREDS Report No. 22, Arch. Ophthalmol. 125 1225-1232. 

Bernstein PS, Zhao DY, Wintch SW, Ermakov IV, and Gellermann W (2002), Resonance Raman measurement of macular carotenoids in normal subjects and in age-related macular degeneration patients, Ophthalmology 109 1780-1787. 

Seddon, J. M., U. A. Ajani et al. (1994). Dietary carotenoids, vitamins A, C, and E, and advanced age-related macular degeneration. Eye disease case-control study group. JAMA 272(18) 1413-1420. 

The retina does not contain high concentrations of hydrocarbon carotenoids but Mares-Perlman et al. (1995) have shown a correlation between age-related macular degeneration and low levels of serum LYC and this apparent contradiction is discussed in Section 14.5. 

Moeller, SM, Parekh, N, Tinker, L, Ritenbaugh, C, Blodi, B, Wallace, RB, and Mares, JA, 2006. Associations between intermediate age-related macular degeneration and lutein and zeaxanthin in the Carotenoids in Age-related Eye Disease Study (CAREDS) Ancillary study of the Women s Health Initiative. Arch... 

Seddon, JM, Ajani, UA, Sperduto, RD, Hiller, R, Blair, N, Burton, TC, Farber, MD, Gragoudas, ES, Haller, J, Miller, DT, Yannuzzi, LA, and Willett, W, 1994. Dietary carotenoids, vitamin A, vitamin C, and vitamin E, and advanced age-related macular degeneration. J Am Med Assoc 272, 1413-1420. 

Wang, W, Connor, SL, Johnson, EJ, Klein, ML, Hughes, S, and Connor, WE, 2007. Effect of dietary lutein and zeaxanthin on plasma carotenoids and their transport in lipoproteins in age-related macular degeneration. Am J Clin Nutr 85, 762-769. 

Leung IYF. 2008. Macular pigment new clinical methods of detection and the role of carotenoids in age-related macular degeneration. Optometry 79 266—272. 

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