CELL-BIOLOGICAL ANALYSIS OF ATOPIC CATARACTOUS LENSES

The number of people suffering from atopic dermatitis, a recent social problem believed to have arisen from environmental pollution and chan ges, continues to increase today and these patients often encounter co mplications such as cataract and retinal detachment. In this study, I have conducted (1) a comparative study on the rate of cell proliferati on between lens epithelial cells (LECs) obtained from 7 atopic catarac tous lenses and from I normal lens, (2) a comparative study on cell de nsity and alignment between LECs obtained from 5 nonatopic cataractous lenses and from 5 atopic cataractous lenses and (3) transmission elec tron microscopy of LECs obtained from 3 atopic cataractous lenses. My findings were as follows: (1) except for 1 case disclosing increased p roliferative activity of the cells to become multilayered, LECs of ato pic cataractous lenses showed diminished proliferative activity; (2) L ECs of atopic cataractous lenses had decreased ill cell density and re vealed irregular cell alignment; (3) transmission electron microscopy of LECs of atopic cataractous lenses demonstrated multilayered cells, increased intercellular spaces, and degeneration and disappearance of some cells. A longer follow-up period and further studies using cells from additional atopic cataractous lenses are necessary before ally co nclusions call be drawn. However, obtaining human LECs especially of a topic cataract patients is not easy, and I do feel that my present stu dy, although its number of patients may not be large enough, provides significant findings for further studies on the mechanism of atopic ca taract formation.