Bleomycin induces cataract formation in newborn rats in association with modifications of crystallin synthesis.

The antitumor antibiotic Bleomycin induces the formation of cataract when injected into newborn rats but not when injected into rats after 12 days or older. The development of these lesions is strictly associated with progressive biochemical modifications of the crystallins as demonstrated by electrophoresis on one and two-dimensional gels. When the lenses of the rats are observed histologically, the first modifications appear between 7 and 13 days after the injection of the drug concomitantly with the first biochemical modifications. Later on the fiber cells start to degenerate and there is a gradual destruction of the whole center of the lens.