Lutein VS Heart Disease

LUTEIN VS Heart Disease

A recent study from the University of Southern California points to Lutein as a preventitive agent for atherosclerosis (heart disease by blockage of heart arteries). The study , published in : Circulation. 103(24):2922-2927, 2001 Jun 19, consisted of three parts,
1- looked at the relationship between study participants’ artery wall thickness and lutein consumption,
2- examined cell samples from human artery walls,
and 3- compared the arteries of mice that had eaten lutein to those of mice that had not eaten lutein.

1. Human subjects.

Monitoring 480 men and women between ages 40 and 60 participating in the Los Angeles Atherosclerosis Study with no history of heart disease or stroke by using ultrasound technology, measurements were made of the thickness of the walls of the carotid (neck) arteries once at the beginning of the study and again 18 months later and results correlated to levels of lutein in participants’ blood over the same time span.

Participants whose blood carried the highest levels of lutein averaged only a 0.004 mm increase in the artery thickness over 18 months whereas those with the lowest levels of lutein increased an average of 0.021 mm.

2. Human cellular examinations.

Examining how lutein may protect cells in artery walls, layers of cells from human arteries were grown in a lab and then exposed to various combinations of lutein and low-density lipoprotein (LDL).

Arterial cell layers treated with lutein were less prone to starting a process of inflammation related to LDL that leads to atherosclerotic plaque in a dose response manner.

3. Mouse subjects.

Using strains of mice with predisposing conditions to atherosclerosis indicated that adding lutein to the diet resulted in the mice having significantly smaller atherosclerotic lesions compared to mice that had no lutein supplementation.

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