Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, IL, USA.
Photochem Photobiol. 2011 Jan-Feb;87(1):18-21. doi: 10.1111/j.1751-1097.2010.00837.x. Epub 2010 Nov 19.
The purpose of this study was to determine the transmission properties of the anterior segment of young primate eyes and potentially relate those changes to photochemical processes in the retina that lead to the early, rapid formation of lipofuscin. A simple method has been developed to determine the optical properties of the anterior segment of the intact eye. Using this technique, the transmission/absorption properties of primate cadaver eyes were determined. A young primate anterior segment has a maximum absorption at 365nm due to the presence of the O-β-glucoside of 3-hydroxykynurenine in the lens. This is synthesized in the last trimester of gestation. Although this compound filters out most of the UV light from reaching the retina, there is a small window of transmission centered on an absorption minimum at 320nm. This closes by the second decade of life. The window of transmission of UV light to the primate retina may explain the initial accelerated formation of lipofuscin in the young human retina by a photochemical process. This would be exacerbated by any decrease in the ozone layer with concomitant increase in UV-B reaching the earth's surface.
本研究旨在确定年轻灵长类动物眼球前段的传递特性，并可能将这些变化与视网膜中导致脂褐素早期快速形成的光化学过程联系起来。已经开发出一种简单的方法来确定完整眼睛前段的光学特性。使用该技术，确定了灵长类尸体眼睛的传输/吸收特性。由于晶状体中存在 3-羟基犬尿氨酸的 O-β-葡糖苷，年轻灵长类动物的前段在 365nm 处具有最大吸收。该物质在妊娠末期合成。尽管该化合物可以滤除大部分到达视网膜的紫外线，但在 320nm 处的吸收最小值处有一个小的传输窗口。这在二十岁出头时关闭。紫外线传输到灵长类动物视网膜的窗口可能解释了光化学过程中年轻人类视网膜中脂褐素的初始加速形成。如果臭氧层减少，同时到达地球表面的 UV-B 增加，情况会更加恶化。
