Current results on the potential health benefits of lutein



Dear Editor,

Lutein is a nutritionally beneficial organic tetraterpenoid pigment; its molecular formula and weight are C₄₀H₅₆O₂ and 568.87144 g/mol, respectively. It is responsible for the yellow color of fruits and vegetables and is found in high levels in parsley, spinach, kale, egg yolk, and lutein-fortified foods (Shegokar and Mitri, 2012[29]).

Lutein has a wide range of beneficial health effects including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antiatherogenic, antihypertensive, antidiabetic, antiulcer, and anticancer effects (Miyazawa et al., 2013[22]; Johnson, 2014[13]; Erdman et al., 2015[8]; Manayi et al., 2015[19]). Furthermore, it is used to prevent eye diseases including age-related macular degeneration (AMD), cataract, and retinitis pigmentosa (Koushan et al., 2013[15]; Sulich et al., 2015[34]).

The commercial value of lutein is growing with the customary age-related macular degeneration applications. The lutein market is segmented into pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, food, pet foods, cosmetics, and animal and fish feed. Lutein shows a range of biological activities and health benefits in animals; therefore, herein, we have reviewed the most recent studies on lutein and its biological and pharmacological activities (Table 1(Tab. 1); References in Table 1: Song et al., 2015[32]; Sheshappa et al., 2015[30]; Crichton et al., 2015[6]; Lieblein-Boff et al., 2015[17]; Du et al., 2015[7]; Cheng et al., 2015[4]; Qiu et al., 2015[25]; Fatani et al., 2015[9]; Wu et al., 2015[44]; Huang et al., 2015[12]; Li et al., 2015[16]; Han et al., 2015[11]; Rafi et al., 2015[26]; Tian et al., 2015[37]; Casaroli-Marano et al., 2015[2]; Wang et al., 2014[42]; Niesor et al., 2014[23]; Su et al., 2014[33]; Sun et al., 2014[35]; Kon et al., 2014[14]; Promphet et al., 2014[24]; Furlani et al., 2014[10]; Serpeloni et al., 2014[28]; Matsumoto et al., 2014[20]; Vishwanathan et al., 2014[40]; Sen et al., 2014[27]; Min and Min, 2014[21]; Ma et al., 2014[18]; Xu et al., 2013[45]; Binawade et al., 2013[1]; Chang et al., 2013[3]; Tian et al., 2013[38]; Yajima et al., 2013[47]; Sung et al., 2013[36]; Costa et al., 2013[5]; Wang et al., 2013[41]; Yao et al., 2013[48]; Xu et al., 2013[46]; Vijayapadma et al., 2014[39]; Woo et al., 2013[43]; Sindhu et al., 2012[31]).

Table 1. Recent studies on lutein and its biological and pharmacological activities.

Acknowledgements

This research was supported by Golden Seed Project funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA), Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries (MOF), Rural Development Administration (RDA) and Korea Forest Service (KFS).

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no conflict of interest.