MIAMI—Consumers who take dietary supplements containing lutein esters may see increases in serum lutein and macular pigment levels, which could fight off conditions such as age-related macular degeneration. Researchers from Florida International University examined the effect of six months of supplementation with lutein ester softgels (provided by Cognis Nutrition & Health) on serum lutein levels and macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in 87 adults (Arch Biochem Biophys. ePub 22 Jun 2010. DOI: 10.1016/j.abb.2010.06.019). In addition to tracking serum lutein levels, subjects took a self-administered test, the heterochromatic flicker photometry (HFP) test, to assess MPOD. Subjects took lutein supplements (5, 10 or 20 mg/d) or identical looking softgels daily with a meal.
Consuming lutein esters dose-dependently increased serum lutein concentrations to a steady-state plateau. MPOD also increased in a dose-dependent fashion. There were changes seen in MPOD response among subjects who were better at the self-administered test, possibly related to changes in their serum lutein concentrations. Interestingly, age did not have a significant effect on MPOD or serum lutein changes.
While there may be an upper limit to how high MPOD can go with supplementation, it is possible that the effects could last for a long while. Richard A. Bone, the lead researcher on this study, commented to Natural Products Marketplace that previous trials have shown elevated levels of macular pigment can be retained for periods of months or even years following cessation of consumption.