THE DISTRIBUTION OF TOTAL, FREE, SHORT-CHAIN ACYL AND LONG-CHAIN ACYLCARNITINE IN OCULAR-TISSUES OF THE CAMEL (CAMELUS-DROMEDARIUS)

Carnitine (CA) plays an important role in the metabolism of fatty acid s. Its presence is considerable in tissues that utilize fatty acids as an important source of energy, such as the heart and the skeletal mus cle. The presence of free, short-chain acyl and long-chain acyl carnit ine was shown for the first time in various tissues of the camel eye. The ratio of acyl carnitine (AC) to free carnitine (FC) was high in aq ueous humor, indicating a predominance of AC, while it was low in vitr eous humor, indicating a higher concentration of FC. The highest conce ntration of total carnitine (TC) was observed in the retina, followed by the cornea, while the lowest was found in lens nucleus. Among vario us forms, FC concentration was the highest in the cornea while it was the lowest in the lens cortex. In the cornea and retina, the proportio n of short-chain acylcarnitines (SC) was two-fold when compared to lon g-chain acylcarnitines (LC), while in the lens it was the same. The ra tio of AC to FC in the retina was high, indicating a predominance of A C, while in lens it was low, indicating a higher concentration of FC. In contrast, L-CA in the cornea was present equally between the free a nd the esterified forms. The quantitative differences in the distribut ion of L-CA in various tissues of the camel eye reflect that it may be involved in providing a source of readily available energy.