Erdman John W, Smith Joshua W, Kuchan Matthew J, Mohn Emily S, Johnson Elizabeth J, Rubakhin Stanislav S, Wang Lin, Sweedler Jonathan V, Neuringer Martha
Division of Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana, IL 61801, USA.
Abbott Nutrition, Discovery Research, Columbus, OH 43219, USA.
Foods. 2015 Dec;4(4):547-564. doi: 10.3390/foods4040547. Epub 2015 Oct 9.
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 () 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 C-lutein, which will allow investigation of lutein flux, localization, metabolism and pharmacokinetics. Lastly, we describe potential future research opportunities.
叶黄素是自然界和人类饮食中最普遍的类胡萝卜素之一。它与玉米黄质一起，在灵长类动物的中央凹视网膜中高度浓缩为黄斑色素，可减弱蓝光照射，提供光氧化保护并增强视觉性能。最近，人们对叶黄素的兴趣已从视网膜扩展到其对大脑发育和功能的可能贡献。只有灵长类动物会在大脑中积累叶黄素，但对其分布或生理作用知之甚少。我们的团队已开始利用恒河猴模型来研究叶黄素在大脑中的摄取和生物定位。我们的总体目标是评估叶黄素定位与脑功能的关联。在这篇综述中，我们将首先介绍用于叶黄素和大脑研究的非人灵长类动物模型的演变，讨论叶黄素与视网膜和脑功能的先前关联研究，并回顾可用于定位脑叶黄素的方法。我们还描述了我们合成C-叶黄素的方法，这将有助于研究叶黄素通量、定位、代谢和药代动力学。最后，我们描述了未来潜在的研究机会。
