PHOSPHOLIPASE A(2) CONTENT OF AQUEOUS-HUMOR IN CATARACT PATIENTS

In order to determine the content of group II phospholipase A(2) in tb e aqueous humour we studied 41 cataract patients including 8 men and 3 3 women with age ranging between 65 and 92 (mean +/- SD being 77.0+/-6 .7) years. In all patients preoperative biomicroscopy showed neither a queous flare nor cells. Eleven patients (26.8%) had pseudoexfoliation syndrome. Aqueous humour tap was done at the beginning of cataract sur gery before perforating the corneoscleral wound. We used time-resolved fluoroimmunoassay for the detection of group II phospholipase A(2) in the aqueous humour. The group II phospholipase A(2) content in the aq ueous humor varied between less than measurable (in 23 patients) and 3 .3 ng/ml, with an interquartile range from less than measurable to 1.4 ng/ml. There was no significant difference in the group II phospholip ase A(2) content of the aqueous humour whether or not the patient had pseudoexfoliation syndrome. The results show that the aqueous humour o f cataract patients contains only minute amounts of group II phospholi pase A(2).