HDL Key to Lutein Transport

WATERFORD, IrelandHigh-density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol is important for the transport of lutein in serum, according to a study out of the Waterford Institute of Technology (Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci. ePub 23 Jun 2010. DOI: 10.1167/iovs.09-4878). Researchers worked with the Whitfield Clinics Institute of Vision Research to recruit 302 healthy adult subjects, 70 percent female. Subjects fasting blood samples were taken to determine lipoprotein and lutein/zeaxanthin levels; macular pigment optical density (MPOD) was also assessed.

The researchers found a statistically significant association between serum lutein concentrations and serum cholesterol concentrations, as well as a positive link between serum lutein and serum HDL concentrations; there was no such link with serum low-density lipoprotein levels (LDL). Additionally, there was an inverse association between serum triglyceride concentrations and total MPOD, but no association between MPOD and concentrations of total or HDL cholesterol. While the study confirmed the role of HDL in lutein transport, the mechanism by which the macula takes up the carotenoids and how that is affected by cholesterol levels is still unclear.