Vol 49, No 3 (2011)
Original paper
Published online: 2011-10-28
Comparing the content of lipids derived from the eye lenses of various species
DOI: 10.5603/FHC.2011.0060
Folia Histochem Cytobiol 2011;49(3):425-430.
Abstract
The lipid content in the eye lens was analyzed and compared among various species in this study. The
eye lens lipids of the following species were investigated: cow, horse, duck, and freshwater trout. Additionally,
the lipids derived from cataractous bovine lens and from cataractous human eye lens lipoprotein complexes
were analyzed. The following lipid classes were detected in clear lenses: cholesterol, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine,
phosphatidyletanolamine, and phosphatidylserine. In cataractous bovine lens and in lipoprotein complexes
from human nuclear cataract, phosphatidyloinositol and phosphatidyloglycerol were detected. Cholesterol
and sphingomyelin, essential for hypothetical formation of cholesterol-rich domains, were the most abundant
lipids in the lenses of all investigated species. These two components of eye lens lipid fraction were analyzed
quantitatively using thin layer chromatography and spectrophotometric assay; the other lipids were identified
qualitatively using thin layer chromatography. (Folia Histochemica et Cytobiologica 2011; Vol. 49, No. 3,
pp. 425–430)
Keywords: eye lenscataractcholesterolsphingomyelinthin layer chromatography
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