Onset Of Opacity Research Articles

Photoperiodic regime influences onset of lens opacities in a non-human primate.

BackgroundOpacities of the lens are typical age-related phenomena which have a high influence on photoreception and consequently circadian rhythm. In mouse lemurs, a small bodied non-human primate, a high incidence (more than 50% when >seven years) of cataracts has been previously described during aging. Previous studies showed that photoperiodically induced accelerated annual rhythms alter some of mouse lemurs’ life history traits. Whether a modification of photoperiod also affects the onset of age dependent lens opacities has not been investigated so far. The aim of this study was therefore to characterise the type of opacity and the mouse lemurs’ age at its onset in two colonies with different photoperiodic regimen.MethodsTwo of the largest mouse lemur colonies in Europe were investigated: Colony 1 having a natural annual photoperiodic regime and Colony 2 with an induced accelerated annual cycle. A slit-lamp was used to determine opacities in the lens. Furthermore, a subset of all animals which showed no opacities in the lens nucleus in the first examination but developed first changes in the following examination were further examined to estimate the age at onset of opacities. In total, 387 animals were examined and 57 represented the subset for age at onset estimation.ResultsThe first and most commonly observable opacity in the lens was nuclear sclerosis. Mouse lemurs from Colony 1 showed a delayed onset of nuclear sclerosis compared to mouse lemurs from Colony 2 (4.35 ± 1.50 years vs. 2.75 ± 0.99 years). For colony 1, the chronological age was equivalent to the number of seasonal cycles experienced by the mouse lemurs. For colony 2, in which seasonal cycles were accelerated by a factor of 1.5, mouse lemurs had experienced 4.13 ± 1.50 seasonal cycles in 2.75 ± 0.99 chronological years.DiscussionOur study showed clear differences in age at the onset of nuclear sclerosis formation between lemurs kept under different photoperiodic regimes. Instead of measuring the chronological age, the number of seasonal cycles (N = four) experienced by a mouse lemur can be used to estimate the risk of beginning nuclear sclerosis formation. Ophthalmological examinations should be taken into account when animals older than 5–6 seasonal cycles are used for experiments in which unrestricted visual ability has to be ensured. This study is the first to assess and demonstrate the influence of annual photoperiod regime on the incidence of lens opacities in a non-human primate.

Laser-driven shock experiments on precompressed water: Implications for “icy” giant planets

Laser-driven shock compression of samples precompressed to 1 GPa produces high-pressure-temperature conditions inducing two significant changes in the optical properties of water: the onset of opacity followed by enhanced reflectivity in the initially transparent water. The onset of reflectivity at infrared wavelengths can be interpreted as a semiconductor<-->electronic conductor transition in water, and is found at pressures above approximately 130 GPa for single-shocked samples precompressed to 1 GPa. Our results indicate that conductivity in the deep interior of "icy" giant planets is greater than realized previously because of an additional contribution from electrons.

Effects of gentamycin and chloramphenicol on the transparency of cultured rat lenses.

The effect of the antibiotics gentamycin and chloramphenicol on lens opacity was studied in an organ culture system. Opacity was monitored by split laser beam. Both antibiotics enhanced the onset of opacity in the cultured lenses under a variety of conditions. For instance, treatment with 5.0 mg/ml gentamycin for 60 min caused initial opacity after 4.8 +/- 1.3 days as opposed to untreated lenses at which initial opacity appeared after 18.1 +/- 2.99 days. Exposure to 20 mg/ml chloramphenicol for 60 min caused initial opacity after 4.6 +/- 1.51 days. Continuous exposure to penicillin and streptomycin (0.1 mg/ml each) did not enhance the onset of opacity.

Is it possible to maintain a normal glutathione level in lenses in vitro?

In most types of experimentally induced cataracts, glutathione (GSH) content decreases considerably before the onset of opacity. GSH may provide a protective function for protein SH groups by scavenging oxidative products that may impair lens metabolism. To avoid impairment of lens metabolism by decreased levels of GSH it may be possible in vitro: (1) to stimulate GSH synthesis by enrichment of the incubation medium with the amino acids necessary for GSH synthesis or (2) to enrich the incubation medium with the tripeptide itself so that it can be taken up by the lens. Both approaches were investigated with bovine lenses. Lenses were incubated in pairs in a salt solution without carbohydrates, so as to deplete lens of GSH. Following starvation, one lens of each pair was incubated for recovery in TCM 199 enriched with MgSO4 and the three amino acids of GSH; the other lens was put into a freshly prepared salt solution. After 6 h, lenses from the recovery solution contained more GSH than the other lenses. Addition of fructose-1,6-diphosphate to the medium enhanced this effect. When, after starvation, lenses were incubated in the presence of different amounts of GSH, GSH lens content rose, with the highest in those lenses incubated in a medium with a final molarity of 4 X 10(-3) M GSH. Therefore, incubation of lenses depleted of GSH in medium with either the amino acids of GSH or GSH itself appear to facilitate recovery of GSH content.