ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Med.
Sec. Ophthalmology
Volume 12 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fmed.2025.1596799
Association between serum carotenoids concentrations and risk of major age-related eye diseases among middle-aged and older adults
Provisionally accepted
- Second Affiliated Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China
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Background: The age-related eye diseases are the main causes of progressive and irreversible vision loss in aging populations worldwide. Carotenoids, as a group of common natural antioxidants, can suppress the free radicals produced by complex physiological reactions, thereby protecting the eyes from the effects of oxidative stress, cell apoptosis, and mitochondrial dysfunction. The present study aims to explore the associations between serum carotenoids concentrations and risk of major age-related eye diseases among middle-aged and older adults in United States. Methods: This study involved 1478 participants aged ≥50 years from the 2005-2006 cycles of National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). Multivariate logistic regression was used to estimate the odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) of prevalence of cataract, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) in relation to serum carotenoids concentrations. Results: Compared to participants in the first quartile, those in highest quartile of serum α-carotene (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.21-0.64), β-carotene (OR: 0.57; 95% CI: 0.33-0.95), lutein/zeaxanthin (OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.27-0.76) and total carotenoid (OR: 0.58; 95% CI: 0.35-0.97) were negatively associated with risk of cataract; those in highest quartile of serum β-carotene (OR: 0.30; 95% CI: 0.11-0.77) and β-cryptoxanthin (OR: 0.28; 95% CI: 0.12-0.68) were negatively associated with risk of diabetic retinopathy; and those in highest quartile of lycopene (OR: 0.37; 95% CI: 0.18-0.78) was negatively associated with risk of AMD. In addition, subgroup analysis results indicated that participants in highest quartile of serum α-carotene (OR: 0.16; 95% CI: 0.08-0.32), β-carotene (OR: 0.40; 95% CI: 0.21-0.75), lycopene (OR: 0.46; 95% CI: 0.24-0.87), lutein/zeaxanthin (OR: 0.45; 95% CI: 0.25-0.84), and total carotenoid (OR: 0.41; 95% CI: 0.22-0.77) concentrations were negatively associated with risk of any ocular disease among female participants. By contrast, no associations were observed among male participants. Conclusions Our study demonstrated that higher serum concentrations of carotenoids were negatively associated with risk of age-related eye diseases, particularly among the middle-aged and older female participants.
Keywords: Serum carotenoids, Cataract, Glaucoma, Diabetic Retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, NHANES
Received: 24 Mar 2025; Accepted: 20 Oct 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Che, Ma and Cao. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jinfeng Cao, jcao@jlu.edu.cn
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