Andjelic Sofija, Drašlar Kazimir, Hvala Anastazija, Hawlina Marko
Eye Hospital, University Medical Centre, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Department of Biology, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Ljubljana, Ljubljana, Slovenia.
Acta Ophthalmol. 2017 May;95(3):e212-e220. doi: 10.1111/aos.13250. Epub 2016 Sep 28.
In retinitis pigmentosa (RP) patients, relatively minor lens opacity in central part of posterior pole of the lens may cause disproportionate functional symptoms requiring cataract operation. To investigate the possible structural reasons for this opacity development, we studied the structure of the lens epithelium of patients with RP.
The anterior lens capsule (aLC: basement membrane and associated lens epithelial cells, LECs) was obtained from cataract surgery and prepared for scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM and TEM).
Both SEM and TEM show a number of abnormal features in the anterior lens epithelium of cataract patients with RP. The abnormalities appear mainly as holes, thinning and degradation of the epithelium, with the dimensions from <1 μm to more than 50 μm. Other types of holes in size up to 20 μm were seen that may be formed by gradual stretching of the lens epithelium. Another type of abnormalities was cracks that were seen between adjacent LECs, with dimensions 0.1-2 μm × up to 10 μm.
Abnormal structural features were observed in the anterior lens epithelium that may cause water influx into the lens. This may lead to clouding along the water clefts leading towards the posterior pole in the RP cataractous lens. We suggest that the lens epithelium has a role in the development of the cataract in patients with RP.
在视网膜色素变性（RP）患者中，晶状体后极中央部分相对较小的晶状体混浊可能会导致不成比例的功能症状，从而需要进行白内障手术。为了研究这种混浊发展的可能结构原因，我们研究了RP患者晶状体上皮的结构。
从白内障手术中获取晶状体前囊（aLC：基底膜及相关的晶状体上皮细胞，LECs），并制备用于扫描和透射电子显微镜（SEM和TEM）观察。
SEM和TEM均显示RP白内障患者晶状体前上皮存在许多异常特征。这些异常主要表现为上皮的孔洞、变薄和降解，尺寸从小于1μm到超过50μm不等。还可见其他尺寸达20μm的孔洞类型，可能是由晶状体上皮逐渐拉伸形成的。另一种异常是相邻LECs之间出现的裂缝，尺寸为0.1 - 2μm×长达10μm。
在晶状体前上皮中观察到异常结构特征，这可能导致水流入晶状体。这可能会导致RP白内障晶状体中沿通向晶状体后极的水隙出现混浊。我们认为晶状体上皮在RP患者白内障的发展中起作用。
