Clinical rationale for dietary lutein supplementation in post COVID-19 and mRNA vaccine injury syndromes

1. Introduction

Lutein is a fruit- and plant-derived xanthophyl-carotenoid with remarkable antioxidant properties.¹ The daily dietary intake of lutein is considered of important medical value as it combats a wide range of pathologies including diseases of the eyes, nervous system, heart, skin, and many others.^1–3 Moreover, an increased concentration of lutein in the blood is positively associated with a) increased respiratory function and b) decreased mortality from respiratory diseases.⁴ A recent study highlights the urgency of implementing biopharmaceutical-nutrient rich dietary components, including lutein, in order to improve immune function and enhance antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection.⁵ Another study focusing on the use of a carotenoid-rich diet against viral infections and disease remarkably reveals the need for lutein consumption as a non-provitamin A nutrient to combat the severe pathologic symptoms of COVID-19 (for full review see Ref. 6). However, although lutein is found abundantly in many consumable plants, including green vegetables, carrots, microalgae, and others, due to its low bioavailability, bio-accessibility and stability, these food sources are not adequate to provide the quantity needed to treat disease.⁷ One way to overcome the low lutein concentration obtained by diet, and, in order to achieve effective doses against disease, is the use of nutritional supplements containing lutein.

However, the previous clinical studies focusing on the use of lutein supplementation against eye disease do not give clear results. Although high blood concentrations of lutein are achieved in the treated patients with eye disease, there are ambiguous therapeutic effects obtained from these studies. Therefore, the lutein-supplementation approach raises concerns about the efficacy of this nutrient for treating disease.^8,9

In this review, we first investigate lutein’s health properties and the mechanisms of its activity. Furthermore, we analyze the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory role of rich food-based lutein intake in order to minimize oxidative stress and oxidant pathways induced by the spike protein in post-COVID¹⁰ and post mRNA vaccination associated diseases such as myopericarditis.¹¹ Moreover, we investigate the optimum bioavailability of lutein in food combinations that can offer the best effective doses of lutein in order to treat these disorders. Nitrosative stress that accompanies oxidative stress is one of the primary targets of lutein.

Extra virgin olive oil (EVOO), under preferable conditions of purification and storage, can provide a synergistic therapeutic effect and an optimum carrier for a lutein-enriched diet to treat post-COVID and mRNA vaccine injury syndromes. We conclude with a brief review of other naturally derived compounds that can act in synergy with lutein to decrease SARS-CoV-2 spike protein activity and can potentially provide a joint therapeutic effect in post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injuries.

2. The therapeutic properties of lutein’s biologic activity against disease

Amongst the 600 carotenoids that are beneficial for human health and the 20 carotenoids regularly detected in human blood, the tetraterpenoid-pigment, non-provitamin A, xanthophyl-lutein, has exceptional pharmacological activities. These activities are based on the compound’s remarkable antioxidant effects and enhanced properties for scavenging ROS. However, lutein’s abilities to treat disease go beyond the antioxidant and ROS scavenging properties and go far deeper into mechanisms of molecular pathogenesis and inhibition. Comprehensive pharmacological activities of lutein are described in the studies of Kim et al.¹² and Algan et al.¹³ Amongst the most important therapeutic effects, summarized in Table 1, are the anti-cancer effects and protection against cardiac complications and neurodegeneration, in addition to immunomodulation effects and the inhibition of pro-inflammatory responses (produced by interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-1β) and chronic inflammation. These therapeutic effects are some of many that can prove useful for the treatment of post-COVID and mRNA vaccination injury syndromes.^14,15