Macular pigment may be cognitive health biomarker

Scientists funded by the European Research Council (ERC) at the Waterford Institute of Technology’s Macular Pigment Research Group (MPRG) in Ireland have investigated the potential link between cognitive function and levels of a vital eye pigment linked to diet.

The new research centred on Alzheimer’s disease suggests that by measuring macular pigment there is the potential for it to act as a biomarker of cognitive health.

The Waterford clinical trial research, conducted by a team of ten researchers and healthcare professionals, investigated two patient groups – those free of retinal disease but with low macular pigment, and those with early age-related macular degeneration. A series of tests were carried out on the volunteer trial patients that saw the examination of the relationship between serum concentrations of the macular carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, macular pigment levels in the eye, and cognitive function.

The results showed a significant link between macular pigment levels in the eye and various measures of cognitive performance in both groups of patients, while lutein and zeaxanthin levels correlated with cognitive performance on only two tests. When the researchers used control variables such as age, gender, diet, and education levels, the correlations between macular pigment and cognitive function remained statistically significant, while the correlations between lutein and zeaxanthin and cognitive function were no longer significant.

Speaking about the results Professor John Nolan, principal investigator at the MPRG and ERC-funded Fellow, said: “Given the growing prevalence of Alzheimer’s, it is obviously very exciting to be involved in leading-edge research that is opening up new possibilities in terms of detecting patients most at risk of the disease at an earlier stage than has previously been possible.”

The results of the study are highlighted in the Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease.