[Ultrastructural study of the photoreceptors of the human retina during aging].

The ultra-structural study of the photoreceptors in the human retina during the aging process was carried out by comparing two groups of patient: 6 young subjects under 25 years of age, and 6 older subjects over 70. Retinal samples were taken from the posterior pole and treated with the classical techniques of electron microscopy. Our works show that during the aging process, nuclear and cytoplasmic morphological modifications are observed. The observation about nuclear modifications is in full agreement with aging process theories according to which the genome plays an essential part. On the other hand, no modification of the external article could be so far observed. Further works will perhaps allow to discover a decrease of the renewal process of the photoreceptor discs.