Elevation of glucose in ocular compartments of developing chick embryos with glucocorticoid-induced cataract.

When 15-day-old developing chick embryos were administered hydrocortisone hemisuccinate sodium (HC:0.25 mumol per egg) the concentration of glucose in both the aqueous humor and the vitreous body began to increase significantly after 3 hr and reached 24.4 +/- 0.3 mM and 22.3 +/- 0.9 mM, respectively, at 48 hr. Thereafter, the levels decreased to the control by 100 hr. During the treatment period, the glucose concentration of the control aqueous humor and vitreous body remained at approximately 7.5 mM and 4.3 mM, respectively. These changes in glucose after HC administration were quite different from that of the lens in regard to the extent of increase and the lag time required to produce glucose accumulation. By in vitro and in ovo experiments, it was found that the environment surrounding lens, medium and ocular fluids, greatly influenced the level of lenticular glucose rather than any changes metabolic activities in the lens. A glucose threshold of near 15 mM in milieu was required to promote the accumulation glucose in the lens.