Effects of a lutein supplement on the plasma lutein concentration and macular pigment in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy.

What Was Tested

The paper reports a study of Lutein, published as a randomized controlled trial.

To investigate the effects of lutein supplementation on plasma lutein concentrations and the macular pigment optical density (MPOD) in central serous chorioretinopathy (CSC).

Who Took Part

According to the abstract, 20 patients were involved.

PubMed indexes the participants as adults, middle-aged adults and older adults, both men and women.

How the Study Was Run

In design terms this was a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study.

Random assignment meant chance, not the researchers, decided who got Lutein and who got the comparison, which limits bias.

Blinding on both sides kept the patients and researchers unaware of who received Lutein.

Some patients received a placebo instead of Lutein, giving a reference point.

The plasma lutein concentration and MPOD using autofluorescence spectrometry (density unit, DU) were measured at baseline and 1 and 4 months.

What Was Measured

PubMed files the paper under topics including Antioxidants, Central Serous Chorioretinopathy, Dietary Supplements, Lutein, Macula Lutea and Retinal Pigments.

The authors tagged it with the keywords autofluorescence, lutein supplement, macular pigment and plasma lutein.

What This Means in Plain Language

The paper is a randomized, double-blind and placebo-controlled study of Lutein in 20 patients.

With fewer than 40 people, it is a small study, so it is better read as an early signal for further research than as a settled answer.

The abstract goes on to report its results in about 5 sentences; this page does not restate them, so read the paper for the findings and their limits.

The publication is from 2014 (Investigative ophthalmology & visual science), a journal based in United States.

More context: all human trials.