Figure 6. Protection from retinal light damage by rosemary with or without zinc oxide versus treatment with the antioxidant/zinc combination recommended by the Age Related Eye Disease Study group (AREDS1). Cyclic light-reared rats were treated with zinc oxide (Z; 1.3 or 2.6 mg/kg), rosemary powder extract (R; 34 mg/kg), or both (R+Z) and then exposed to full-spectrum intense white light for 6 h. Rhodopsin and retinal DNA were measured 2 weeks later to assess visual cell survival. Rosemary treatment and rosemary plus zinc were significantly more effective than treatment with vehicle (p<0.001). Other rats were treated 1 h before light exposure with an AREDS antioxidant–mineral mix given at approximately the daily recommended dose for zinc (1.3 mg/kg). AREDS treatment was ineffective when compared with either light-exposed vehicle-treated rats or rosemary and rosemary plus zinc treatment (p<0.02 or p<0.01, respectively). Values shown are the averages for n=5–12 rats ±standard deviation. NS is equal to no significant difference.