Macular degeneration is a condition caused by the blurring of the center of the vision without affecting the side or peripheral vision.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an aging process found in older adults and is the leading cause of blindness in adults over the age of 55.
Most adults with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) are asymptomatic. However, it can be detected by professionals during annual eye check-ups.
Untreated AMD, over time, can lead to the increased size of blur areas and interfere with vision, including reading.
AMD can be classified into 2 types
* The dry form is a milder form found in most patients with AMD with gradual degeneration of the central retinal tissues that make up the macula.
* The wet form is the serious form of AMD accounting for only 10% of all patients
However, the dry form can develop into a wet form over time.
Conventionally, as of today, there is no effective treatment for AMD. Most treatments such as low vision aids and lifestyle control are to delay the progression and improve quality of life.
In some cases, wet AMD may be treated with medications injected into the eye to stop leaking blood vessels, depending on the disease severity.
Besides aging and exposure to UVB, smoking has been found to increase the risk of AMD by 2-5 fold.
Dr. Sara Velilla, the lead scientist said, "Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the main socioeconomic health issues worldwide. AMD has a multifactorial etiology with a variety of risk factors. Smoking is the most important modifiable risk factor for AMD development and progression".
Tomato is red, edible fruit, genus Solanum, and belongs to the family Solanaceae, native to South America. Because of its health benefits, the tomato is grown worldwide for the commercial purpose
and often in the greenhouse.
With an aim to find a natural treatment for eye disease, researchers examined the combinations of antioxidants including lutein+zeaxanthin (1 μM; 0.2 μM), zinc (10 µM), carnosic acid (2 µM), beta-carotene (2 µM), and standardized tomato extract containing lycopene and other tomato phytonutrients added to the culture media against age-related macular degeneration (AMD).
Injection of the combination protected the eye against age-related macular degeneration (AMD) by yielding an antioxidative, anti-inflammatory, and antiangiogenic effect in M1 and M2 macrophages.
The results of the effects were attributed to the upregulation of antioxidative genes (HMOX1, SOD1) expression and the inhibition of pro-angiogenic genes and pro-inflammatory genes (SDF-1, TNF-alpha, IL-6, MCP-1).
Compared to the combination, lutein monotherapy or a combination of lutein and zinc had less effect on the expression of these genes.
Dr.Rinsky B, the lead scientist said, "Combinations of supplements can modify the expression of genes and proteins that may be relevant for the involvement of macrophages in the pathogenesis of AMD".
Furthermore, in oxidative stress-induced damage to the retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) on age-related macular degeneration and neovascular retinopathies (e.g., retinopathy of prematurity, diabetic retinopathy, researchers investigated xanthophyll carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin, isolated from toma in damage of retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells.
Also, the administration of carotenoids, lutein, and zeaxanthin showed to protect the macula (and the broader retina) via their antioxidant and photoprotective activities.
In undifferentiated ARPE-19 cells, lutein and lycopene, but not β-carotene, protected the cell integrity and viability by inhibiting the overexpression of retinal cell growth.
Moreover, pre-incubation of ARPE-19 cells with lutein or lycopene protected against tBHP-induced cell loss and cell co-exposure of lutein or lycopene with tBHP essentially neutralized tBHP-dependent cell death at tBHP concentrations up to 500 μM.
Where tert-Butyl hydroperoxide (tBHP) is an organic peroxide used to induce oxidation processes.
In other words, lutein and lycopene protected the RPE against oxidative stress-induced cell loss
Taken altogether, tomatoes may be considered a natural remedy for the prevention and treatment of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), pending the confirmation of the larger sample size and multicenter human study.
Intake of lutein and lycopene in the form of supplements should be taken with extreme care to prevent overdose acute liver toxicity.
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Author Biography
Kyle J. Norton (Scholar, Master of Nutrition, All right reserved)
Health article writer and researcher; Over 10.000 articles and research papers have been written and published online, including worldwide health, ezine articles, article base, health blogs, self-growth, best before it's news, the Karate GB daily, etc.,.
Named TOP 50 MEDICAL ESSAYS FOR ARTISTS & AUTHORS TO READ by Disilgold.com Named 50 of the best health Tweeters Canada - Huffington Post
Nominated for shorty award over last 4 years
Some articles have been used as references in medical research, such as international journal Pharma and Bioscience, ISSN 0975-6299.
Sources
(1) Characterizing the effect of supplements on the phenotype of cultured macrophages from patients with age-related macular degeneration by Rinsky B1, Hagbi-Levi S1, Elbaz-Hayoun S1, Grunin M1, Chowers. (PubMed)
(2) Effects of the Macular Carotenoid Lutein in Human Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells by Gong X1, Draper CS2, Allison GS3, Marisiddaiah R4, Rubin LP. (PubMed)
(3) Smoking and Age-Related Macular Degeneration: Review and Update by Sara Velilla, 1 , 2 José Javier García-Medina, 3 , 4 , 5 Alfredo García-Layana, 2 , 6Rosa Dolz-Marco, 5 , 7 Sheila Pons-Vázquez, 5 M. Dolores Pinazo-Durán, 2 , 5 , 8Francisco Gómez-Ulla, 2 , 9 , 10 J. Fernando Arévalo, 11 , 12 Manuel Díaz-Llopis, 2 , 7 , 8 and Roberto Gallego-Pinazo. (PMC)
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