Serum beta carotene, alpha tocopherol, and age-related maculopathy: the Blue Mountains Eye Study.

Abstract

To assess associations between serum beta carotene, alpha tocopherol, and age-related maculopathy. We studied 156 subjects with age-related maculopathy matched for age, sex, and month of blood collection to 156 control subjects without age-related maculopathy. Subjects were identified from the Blue Mountains Eye Study: those with late age-related macular degeneration and early age-related maculopathy using examination and grading of retinal photographs, and control subjects without age-related maculopathy randomly sampled from the study population. Neither serum alpha tocopherol nor beta carotene was significantly associated with age-related maculopathy. These findings provide no evidence of a protective association between serum alpha tocopherol or beta carotene and age-related maculopathy.