LEAD CONCENTRATION IN DIFFERENT COMPARTMENTS OF THE BOVINE EYE

It is known that lead is a metabolic substitute of calcium and recentl y, in vitro results showed that glycosaminoglycans and proteins are ca pable of binding lead. Therefore, in this work, the level of lead in a queous humor, vitreous humor, lens and sclera of bovine eyes was analy zed in order to establish a relationship between lead concentration an d the contents of glycosaminoglycans, proteins, water and calcium in t hose structures. Lead was determined by means of atomic absorption spe ctrometry after acid digestion. Our results suggest a direct relations hip between the contents of proteins and glycosaminoglycans, and the a bility of the different eye structures to retain lead. Nevertheless, a n inverse relationship between water content and lead concentration wa s found. No association between calcium and lead concentrations was ob served.