It appears that lutein is well-tolerated by dogs, but for now my plan is to start out with the supplement every other day to see how she tolerates it. In this paper: Dietary lutein stimulates immune response in the canine, 25-lb beagles were given daily amounts of lutein in either 5, 10, or 20 mg dosages. The paper didn't cite any adverse effects, and it appears that it took about 2 weeks for the beagles' serum lutein levels to increase. I'll see how Reo does on the 6 mg dosage every other day for a couple of weeks, and then potentially increase to daily.
Why the heck am I giving Reo another supplement, you ask? (It's okay if you asked that...Sean asked too!) I decided to supplement the lutein based on these two studies (as well as the regularly available information that lutein is good for eyes in general, people too!):
If you've read Caroline Levin's position on SARDS, you might remember that she states that vision loss occurs due to mitochondrial damage in the retinal cells due to the uptake of calcium (which happens as a result of increased estrogen levels).
It appears that the energy-dependent uptake of
calcium ions by the mitochondria is inhibited by lutein, which also helps to
efflux (pump out) calcium ions from mitochondria, as this paper states. So you might think that if there is enough lutein present in the eye, it would help prevent the uptake of calcium if estrogen levels are high.
As well, this paper asserts that lutein and its isomer zeaxanthan help to prevent the apoptosis (killing of cells) of photoreceptor cells in the retina, through their antioxidant properties.
You can read more about lutein on Wikipedia. There are also rich dietary sources of lutein, if you are cooking for your dog! Cooked kale and cooked spinach are both naturally very high in lutein, so these would be good choices to put in your dog's veggie mix!
You can read more about lutein on Wikipedia. There are also rich dietary sources of lutein, if you are cooking for your dog! Cooked kale and cooked spinach are both naturally very high in lutein, so these would be good choices to put in your dog's veggie mix!
Reo ate up her dinner lickety-split, so we are underway!
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