Eye Formula

Improved tear photostress and tear-film measures -- Small study with multiple eye and self-report endpoints

Lopresti AL; Smith SJ — Frontiers in Nutrition

Pooling 9 randomized trials in 860 people, lutein supplementation was associated with improved macular pigment density and visual acuity in early-stage age-related macular degeneration, with no significant benefit in late-stage disease.

Wang WX, Wang CC, Hsu WC, Peng YJ. — Journal of ophthalmology

In a small pilot in intermediate macular degeneration, both oral carotenoid supplementation and transscleral iontophoresis significantly raised macular pigment density while preserving visual acuity; the non-randomized design and small size make the findings exploratory.

Rinaldi M, Cennamo G, Passaro ML, Chiosi F, Falco F, D'Alessandro A, Strianese D, Costagliola C. — Journal of clinical medicine

A 6-month trial in adults with heavy daily screen use found that lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation improved tear film measures and photostress recovery compared with placebo.

Lopresti AL, Smith SJ — Frontiers in Nutrition

In a 6-month randomized trial, lutein and zeaxanthin supplementation raised macular pigment density and improved some cognitive-performance measures in healthy teenagers, though self-reported attention and sleep did not change.

Lopresti AL, Smith SJ. — Nutrition research (New York, N.Y.)

This review shows that skin carotenoid levels and macular pigment density are biologically distinct and only weakly correlated, so a skin carotenoid score cannot be used to estimate eye macular pigment -- each reflects a different carotenoid pool.

Sharifzadeh M. — Nutrients

In a US population dataset, higher lutein and zeaxanthin intake was associated with younger biological-age measures, and transcriptome analysis pointed to gene-expression pathways as a possible mechanism, an observational nutrigenomic association.

Tao M; Zhang L; Jiang C; Xiang J; Chen S; Tan S; Sun S — Frontiers in nutrition

Lutein, a xanthophyll carotenoid linked to eye health and neuroprotective antioxidant effects, is increasingly sourced from microalgae and fermentation platforms to address bioavailability and sustainability limits of conventional sources.

Kurniawan SB; Subramaniam SV; Hasan HA; Imron MF — Foods (Basel, Switzerland)

In northern-Chinese mothers, carotenoids transferred into breast milk shifted over lactation -- beta-carotene predominated in colostrum and lutein in mature milk -- and milk levels partly tracked mothers' dietary carotenoid intake.

Tian L, Wang L, Li F, Sun A, Ni M, Sun H, Wang H, Li X, Zhao Y, Zhang L, Li X, Kuchan M, Mao Y, Chen J. — Food & function

In a crossover study of 18 adults, serum lutein levels were measured over 30 hours after consuming a lutein supplement, raw vegetables, or raw vegetable juice to compare bioavailability across these lutein sources.

Choi SH; Kim KY; Moon HR; Jeong HY; Kang MJ; Lee S; Park E; Hong YS; Yun JM — Nutrition research and practice

In adults over 50, higher dietary lutein and zeaxanthin intake was associated with lower odds of vertebral fracture, and beta-carotene with lower fracture odds in women, suggesting carotenoid-rich diets may support bone -- an association, not proof of cause.

Zheng Y, Zhou W, Zhang J, Lan T, Zhang R. — Archives of osteoporosis

In a retinal cell model of oxidative damage relevant to age-related macular degeneration, lutein along with resveratrol and crocetin reduced oxidative stress markers and influenced autophagy and mitophagy protein levels.

Yabaş A; Karabaş VL; Furat S; Tokuç EÖ; Öztürk A; Altuntaş C; Özsoy ÖD; Duruksu G; Yazır Y — Tissue & cell

Researchers formulated lutein nano-bilosomes (about 20-50 nm) with over 90% entrapment efficiency and good storage and gastrointestinal stability, aiming to improve lutein's naturally low bioavailability for eye and brain health.

Iyer S; Sheshappa MB — Journal of food science and technology

Review describes plant-derived polyphenols and carotenoids including curcumin, resveratrol, and lycopene as reducing UV-induced collagen degradation and oxidative stress, with lycopene-rich tomato paste shown to reduce erythema and DNA damage in skin aging research.

Ibrahim M; Singh H; Fahim M; Khan S; Khan J; Arun JK; Mishra AK; Virmani T; Sharma A; Kumar G; Gugulothu D; Chopra S; Chopra H — Current pharmaceutical design

A systematic review of nine randomized trials found carotenoid and anthocyanin supplementation modestly improved visual function measures like macular pigment density and contrast sensitivity, but showed no consistent effect on slowing myopia progression.

Martinez-Perez C; Oliveira AP — Nutrients

A review of plant-based antioxidants found lycopene, resveratrol, and curcumin showed clinical benefits for sperm motility, ovarian reserve, and endometriosis-related inflammation, though poor bioavailability limits their therapeutic use.

Liu X; Zeng T; Zhang E; Bin C; Liu Q; Wu K; Luo Y; Wei S — Frontiers in nutrition

A review of plant-derived compounds for skin photoaging describes how mangiferin, lutein, curcumin, and resveratrol provide antioxidant and anti-inflammatory protection, while quercetin, apigenin, and gingerol inhibit collagenase and elastase enzymes that break down skin structure.

Ilma B; Kaushik K; Shekhar N; Tyagi A; Tyagi S — Photochemical & photobiological sciences : Official journal of the European Photochemistry Association and the European Society for Photobiology

In patients taking daily lutein supplements, foveal macular pigment index measured by fundus autofluorescence imaging increased significantly by six months, with minimal further change after twelve months.

Rajs P; Liehneova I; Stranak Z — Biomedical papers of the Medical Faculty of the University Palacky, Olomouc, Czechoslovakia

In a study of 88 children, macular pigment optical density did not correlate with Mediterranean diet adherence, suggesting genetics, oxidative stress, and body fat play larger roles.

Ponce-García V; Bautista-Llamas MJ; García-Romera MC — Journal of clinical medicine

In an intestinal cell model, dietary lutein and zeaxanthin were taken up through the transporters SR-BI and NPC1L1 and by clathrin- and caveolae-dependent endocytosis, with free and esterified forms handled differently -- clarifying how xanthophylls cross the gut lining.

Wu F, Chen N, Peng Y, Li M, Ni Y, Li T, Liu R, Wen X. — Nutrients

In moss possessing both LhcSR and PsbS proteins, researchers found that zeaxanthin accumulation via the xanthophyll cycle drives non-photochemical quenching that protects the photosynthetic apparatus from excess light energy.

Beraldo C; Bagchus C; Verhoeven D; Bellan A; Gerotto C; Wientjes E; van Amerongen H; Morosinotto T; Alboresi A — The New phytologist

A review found that marine carotenoids including astaxanthin, fucoxanthin, and zeaxanthin neutralize reactive oxygen species through radical scavenging and signaling pathway modulation, with studied relevance to chronic disease risk.

Shah FI; Imran H; Akram F; Khalid T; Shehzadi S — Molecular biotechnology

A lutein/zeaxanthin marigold extract complex reduced inflammatory cytokines and NF-kB expression while boosting antioxidant enzymes in cellular and animal models of blue-light-induced retinal injury, preserving retinal layer thickness.

Kim YH; Kim DH; Ahn JM; Kim HJ; Jung YC; Lee HW — In vivo (Athens, Greece)

Review summarizes how light regulates the enzyme zeaxanthin epoxidase in plants, a process central to balancing zeaxanthin levels in the thylakoid membrane that protects plants from photo-oxidative stress under fluctuating light.

Jahns P; Bethmann S — Physiologia plantarum