title: Photoreceptor damage following exposure to excess riboflavin.
abstract: Flavins generate oxidants during metabolism and when exposed to light. Here we report that the photoreceptor layer of retinas from black-eyed rats is reduced in size by a dietary regime containing excess riboflavin. The effect of excess riboflavin was dose-dependent and was manifested by a decrease in photoreceptor length. This decrease was due in part to a reduction in the thickness of the outer nuclear layer, a structure formed from stacked photoreceptor nuclei. These changes were accompanied by an increase in photoreceptor outer segment autofluorescence following illumination at 328 nm, a wavelength that corresponds to the excitation maxima of oxidized lipopigments of the retinal pigment epithelium.
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles 90024-1772.
authors.forename: C D
authors.initials: CD
authors.lastname: Eckhert
authors.forename: M H
authors.initials: MH
authors.lastname: Hsu
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Pang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004032:Diet; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D010786:Photoreceptor Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D051381:Rats; D012160:Retina / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D012162:Retinal Degeneration / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000473:pathology; D017948:Retinal Rod Photoreceptor Cells / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology*; D012256:Riboflavin / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000633:toxicity*; D012374:Rod Cell Outer Segment / Q000187:drug effects / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D012256:Riboflavin