title: Aging affects the conformation of cholesterol in the human eye lens.
abstract: The distribution of 3-beta-OH-cholesterol along the optical axis of 20 human eye lenses of different ages was measured using confocal Raman microspectroscopy in combination with the 3-beta-hydroxysteroid-specific probe filipin. This non-destructive technique allow a spatially very detailed study of the distribution of 3-beta-OH-cholesterol in individual lenses. It revealed age-related changes of the 3-beta-OH-cholesterol distribution along the optical axis. The 3-beta-OH-cholesterol was found to be distributed asymmetrically along the optical axis and this distribution was found to change with age. The relative 3-beta-OH-cholesterol content in the anterior part of the lens decreases significantly with increasing age compared with its equal posterior counterpart. Additionally all the lenses have a very low 3-beta-OH-cholesterol content in the central part of their nuclear region, the area where the primary lens fibres are located.
authors.affiliation: Netherlands Ophthalmic Research Institute, Department of Morphology, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: J J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Duindam
authors.forename: G F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Vrensen
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Otto
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Greve
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging; D002648:Child; D005372:Filipin; D006801:Humans; D006888:Hydroxycholesterols / Q000737:chemistry*; D007908:Lens, Crystalline / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure; D008875:Middle Aged
chemical_list: D006888:Hydroxycholesterols; D005372:Filipin