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. 2015 Dec;4(4):547-564.
doi: 10.3390/foods4040547. Epub 2015 Oct 9.

Lutein and Brain Function

John W Erdman Jr  1 , Joshua W Smith  1 , Matthew J Kuchan  2 , Emily S Mohn  3 , Elizabeth J Johnson  3 , Stanislav S Rubakhin  4 , Lin Wang  4 , Jonathan V Sweedler  4 , Martha Neuringer  5
Affiliations

Lutein and Brain Function

John W Erdman Jr et al. Foods. 2015 Dec.

Abstract

Lutein is one of the most prevalent carotenoids in nature and in the human diet. Together with zeaxanthin, it is highly concentrated as macular pigment in the foveal retina of primates, attenuating blue light exposure, providing protection from photo-oxidation and enhancing visual performance. Recently, interest in lutein has expanded beyond the retina to its possible contributions to brain development and function. Only primates accumulate lutein within the brain, but little is known about its distribution or physiological role. Our team has begun to utilize the rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta) model to study the uptake and bio-localization of lutein in the brain. Our overall goal has been to assess the association of lutein localization with brain function. In this review, we will first cover the evolution of the non-human primate model for lutein and brain studies, discuss prior association studies of lutein with retina and brain function, and review approaches that can be used to localize brain lutein. We also describe our approach to the biosynthesis of 13C-lutein, which will allow investigation of lutein flux, localization, metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Lastly, we describe potential future research opportunities.

Keywords: animal models; brain function; carotenoids; lutein; monkeys.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Visualization of macular pigment in two primate fovea. Retinal fundus photographs illustrating the presence of yellow macular pigment in the fovea of a normal rhesus monkey (A) and its absence in a monkey fed a diet devoid of carotenoids including lutein and zeaxanthin (B). The right image in (B) also illustrates numerous macular drusen in the monkey lacking macular pigment.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Approaches for assessing the association between lutein and brain function.
Figure 3
Figure 3
Lutein/zeaxanthin-like signal distributions in 10 μm thick sections of monkey retina detected using MSI. (A) Distribution of lutein/zeaxanthin-like signal in macula vs. periphery of retina. Only small rectangular areas in each retina section were examined (blue color). White and red colors represent highest relative signal intensities. Dashed line outlines areas occupied by tissue sections. (B) Representative mass spectra acquired from the examined retina regions. Asterisk marks likely matrix-related signal contributing to low intensity ubiquitous background.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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