Free Amino Acids in the Normal and Cataractous Bovine and Human Lens Capsule and Lens

Abstract

With circular chromatography on paper, we have tested the content of the free amino acids in the normal and cataractous bovine and human lens capsule and lens. The interpretation of the data shows that the normal bovine lens without capsule presents a greater quantity of free amino acids in relation to the bovine cataractous lens without capsule; the lens capsule of normal bovine lens presents a lesser quantity of free amino acids in relation to the lens capsule of the bovine cataractous lens; the normal human lens without capsule presents a relative increase in quantity of free amino acids in relation to the cataractous human lens without capsule (cortical and nuclear cataract); the lens capsule of the normal human lens presents a decrease in the quantity of free amino acids in relation to the lens capsule of the cataractous human lens (cortical and nuclear cataract); the human cataractous lens in "cataracta nigra" presents a marked decrease in quantity of free amino acids in relation to cataractous human lens without capsule (nuclear and cortical cataract), while the lens capsule of "cataracta nigra", presents a marked increase in quantity of free amino acids in relation to the normal human lens capsule, and decrease in relation to the lens capsule of the cataractous human lens (cortical and nuclear cataract).