Purpose: To evaluate the impact of a specially formulated food supplement containing 20 mg free lutein and 2.8 mg zeaxanthin on macular pigment volume (MPV) and visual function. Methods: In this prospective non-comparative study healthy subjects were instructed to take one capsule of Eagle Eye Lutein 20 Vision Caps (Innomedis AG) per day with a meal for 6 months. MPV was measured with the MP-Eye system (AzulOptics) after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Mesopic vision (MV), glare sensitivity (GS) and contrast vision threshold (CVT) were measured with the Binoptometer 4P system (OCULUS Optikgeräte). Results: Twenty-three healthy subjects between 19 and 56 years were enrolled. A significant increase was observed in MPV (p < 0.001), with associated improvements in MV level (p = 0.042), GS (p = 0.009) and CVT (p = 0.036). Mean changes in MPV, MV level, GS and CVT were 2.2 ± 1.7, 0.4 ± 0.8, 0.4 ± 0.7, and -9.3% ± 16.1%, respectively. The change in MV (r = -0.628, p = 0.002), GS (r = -0.778, p < 0.001) and CVT (r = -0.625, p = 0.002) with treatment was found to correlate significantly with their corresponding baseline values. Conclusions: The specially formulated food supplement containing lutein and zeaxanthin induced a significant increase in MPV, and consequently an improvement in the visual function after 3 and 6 months in healthy subjects.
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