ABSTRACT
An awareness of the presence of the “macula lutea” dates to a time during the last two decades of the eighteenth century, something more than two centuries ago (Nussbaum et al. 1981; Whitehead et al. 2006). Perhaps, it should be a surprise that fundamental facts needed to describe the macular pigments awaited discovery until the end of the twentieth century (Landrum and Bone 2001). A firm determination of the identities of the macular carotenoids, lutein and zeaxanthin, was established and confirmed during the mid-1980s providing the firm standing essential for further detailed research (Bone et al. 1985, 1988; Handelman et al. 1988). Since that time, the level of interest and enthusiasm that researchers have shown in the macular pigment has grown dramatically. The burgeoning enthusiasm underlying current research into the functional role of the macular pigments is also paralleled by an increasing interest that is now being devoted to the role of other non-vitamin A carotenoids. Bone et al. (1993) demonstrated that the rarely encountered carotenoid, mesozeaxanthin, comprises approximately 30% of the total macular pigment within the central fovea. The ability of carotenoids to act as antioxidants within the body is now widely recognized, and it is accepted that the retina is subject to high oxidative loads (Landrum 2013). The Age-Related Eye Disease Study I (AREDS I) demonstrated
1.1 Current Perspective on Macular Pigment .........................................................1 1.2 Early Reports of the Macular Pigment .............................................................2 1.3 Role of the Development of Ophthalmoscopic Tools in Characterizing
Macular Pigment...............................................................................................4 1.4 Entoptical Phenomena, Color Perception, and the Macular Pigment...............6 1.5 Modern Measurements of Macular Pigment ....................................................8
