[Spectral transmittance of normal human crystalline lens].

The spectral transmittance and non-tryptophan fluorescence of human crystalline lenses were evaluated. Eleven eye bank lenses and three lenses of prematurity of retinopathy patients were investigated. All lenses absorbed the short wavelength light below 430 nm strongly. The transmission of the short wavelength visible light decreased gradually with age. There was a positive correlation between the fluorescence intensity ratio of non-tryptophan to tryptophan fluorescence and the logarithm of age. It was thought that the generation of non-tryptophan fluorescence might be a first-order chemical reaction.