Antioxidant vitamins and nuclear opacities: The longitudinal study of cataract☆
Section snippets
Data collection
The Longitudinal Study of Cataract (LSC, 1989–1993) was an epidemiologic study of the natural history of lens opacities, conducted with funding from the National Eye Institute. This study aimed to measure longitudinal changes in nuclear, cortical, and posterior subcapsular opacities in a clinic-based population, as well as to assess risk factors for cataract growth.18, 19, 20 For efficiency, the LSC baseline data were obtained using lens photographs and risk factor data collected as part of an
Results
Table 1 presents the characteristics of the 744 participants at baseline. The median age was 65 years and approximately half had nuclear opacities (LOCS III nuclear score ≥2.0); one fourth used multivitamins and approximately two fifths used some kind of vitamin supplements. During follow-up, 177 or 24% of the participants had increases in nuclear opacities in at least 1 eye. Table 2 compares the use of multivitamin supplements and plasma levels of vitamin E between these 177 participants and
Discussion
This longitudinal study determined whether baseline antioxidant nutrients were related to subsequent changes in nuclear opacities at follow-up. Regular users of multivitamins or vitamin E supplements at baseline had a decreased risk of nuclear opacification at follow-up. Furthermore, higher plasma levels of vitamin E at baseline also were associated with a lower risk of nuclear opacities (Table 3). These findings are similar to the multivitamin and vitamin E findings of our earlier case-control
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Cited by (126)
Reported evidence of vitamin E protection against cataract and glaucoma
2021, Free Radical Biology and MedicineCitation Excerpt :Low plasma VE content may be associated with an increased risk of progression of early cortical lens opacity. Leske et al. [122] reported that the risk of nuclear opacification at follow-up decreased in regular users of multivitamin supplements (RR, 0.69; 95% CI, 0.48–0.99), VE supplements (RR, 0.43; 95% CI, 0.19–0.99), and in persons with higher VE plasma levels (RR, 0.58; 95% CI, 0.36–0.94) in 764 study participants. In regular users of multivitamin supplements, the risk of nuclear opacification was reduced by one third; in regular users of VE supplements and persons with higher plasma levels of VE, the risk was reduced by about half.
Vitamin E: How much is enough, too much and why!
2021, Free Radical Biology and MedicineA focus on resveratrol and ocular problems, especially cataract: From chemistry to medical uses and clinical relevance
2017, Biomedicine and PharmacotherapyCitation Excerpt :Exposure to sunlight (especially its UV-B component) is another cause of cataracts, inducing apoptosis in human lens epithelial cells [5]. Moreover, lifestyle factors, such as tobacco use, alcohol consumption and an unhealthy diet, poor in vitamin C and E and other carotenoids such as lutein and zeaxanthin, can be responsible for the formation of cataracts [6–8]. A large body of evidence suggests that oxidative stress plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis of cataracts.
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Supported by National Eye Institute Grant R01EY08291.