title: The pH in the precorneal tear film and under a contact lens measured with a fluorescent probe.
abstract: The reaction of the precorneal tear film of the human eye was determined non-invasively by instilling pyranine, a pH-sensitive fluorescent dye. The mean value was 7.83 (S.D. +/- 0.10) and it takes up this value immediately on opening the eye after the lids had been kept closed. The HCO3 system seems to be responsible for only a portion of the buffering power of the tear film. When a drop buffered to pH 6.4 with 0.075 M PO4 was instilled, the tears returned to their normal value in about 7 min, consistent with the washout times of solutes in the conjunctival sac. A pH of 7.3 was established in the tear fluid behind contact lenses either gas permeable or impermeable, probably as a result of their restricting the loss of CO2 from the eye.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, Stanford University Medical Center, CA 94305.
authors.forename: F S
authors.initials: FS
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: D M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Maurice
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001190:Arylsulfonates; D002021:Buffers; D003261:Contact Lenses; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006801:Humans; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D011817:Rabbits; D013666:Tears / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D001190:Arylsulfonates; D002021:Buffers; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; C005047:pyranine