Ubels J L, MacRae S M
Curr Eye Res. 1984 Jun;3(6):815-22. doi: 10.3109/02713688409000793.
Vitamin A is required for the normal growth maintenance and maturation of the corneal epithelium and is effective in the treatment of xerophthalmia and experimental corneal epithelial wounds when applied topically as retinoic acid. The normal route of delivery of vitamin A to the cornea has remained undefined. We collected tears from normal and vitamin A deficient rabbits and from humans and analyzed them by high pressure liquid chromatography. A peak corresponding to a retinol standard was eluted from normal rabbit and human tears but was absent from the vitamin A deficient rabbit tears. The retinol concentration in rabbit tears was 69 ng/ml (0.2 X 10(-6)M) and in human tears was 16 ng/ml (0.5 X 10(-7)M). This demonstration that vitamin A is present in the tears as retinol establishes the rationale for treatment of corneal disease with topical vitamin A.
维生素A是角膜上皮正常生长、维持和成熟所必需的，当以视黄酸局部应用时，对治疗干眼症和实验性角膜上皮损伤有效。维生素A向角膜递送的正常途径仍不明确。我们收集了正常和维生素A缺乏的兔子以及人类的眼泪，并通过高压液相色谱法进行分析。从正常兔子和人类眼泪中洗脱出色谱峰，其与视黄醇标准品相对应，但维生素A缺乏的兔子眼泪中没有该色谱峰。兔子眼泪中视黄醇浓度为69 ng/ml（0.2×10⁻⁶M），人类眼泪中为16 ng/ml（0.5×10⁻⁷M）。维生素A以视黄醇形式存在于眼泪中的这一证明，为局部应用维生素A治疗角膜疾病奠定了理论基础。
