Comparative investigations of catalase activity in different ocular tissues of cattle and man.

As previously published, ocular catalase activity was measured by Warburg's respirometer, the examined material being taken from the local slaughterhouse and keratoplasty-donor eyes. The results were given in microliter O2 per mg soluble protein (Biuret's solution) and showed an extensive parallelism between human and bovine eyes: They were in a decreasing order of catalase activity, i.e., conjunctiva > retina > vitreous > sclera > iris > choroid > cornea > aqueous humor > serum > lens. In the latter, catalase activity was a sensitive indicator of aerobic metabolism. Oxidative processes in the vitreous merit more consideration.