[Degree of degraded proteoglycan in human vitreous and the influence of peroxidation].
OBJECTIVE
The degradation of hyaluronic acid induced by reactive oxygen species has been reported in vitro as a cause of vitreous liquefaction. In this study on in vivo human vitreous liquefaction, we examined the degree of degraded proteoglycan (PG) in human vitreous and the influence of peroxidation.


METHODS
In this study we examined the vitreous of 5 eyes with diabetic retinopathy, 12 eyes with retinal detachment, 2 eyes with retinal vein occlusion, and one eye with macular hole. The degree of degraded PG was determined by cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis. To evaluate the influence of oxidation, copper ions, iron ions, hydrogen peroxide, lipid peroxide, L-ascorbic acid concentrations, and superoxide scavenging activity were measured.


RESULTS
The electrophoretic patterns of PG were classified into the origin type (non-fragmented PG) in which only the origin was stained, and the mobile type (fragmented PG) showed other patterns. In the mobile type, the copper ion and hydrogen peroxide concentrations were higher, and the lipid peroxide concentrations were significantly higher, while the superoxide scavenging activity was lower.


CONCLUSIONS
These results indicated that the degradation of PG and dissociation of glycosaminoglycan in human vitreous were associated with peroxidation.
Department of Ophthalmology, Koshigaya Hospital, Dokkyo University School of Medicine, 2-1-50 Minamikoshigaya, Koshigaya 343-8555, Japan.
Kazunori
K
Takahashi
Kiyomi
K
Arai
Shimmin
S
Hayashi
Yasushi
Y
Tanaka
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D006025:Glycosaminoglycans / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015227:Lipid Peroxidation / Q000502:physiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011509:Proteoglycans / Q000378:metabolism*; D014822:Vitreous Body / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*
D006025:Glycosaminoglycans; D011509:Proteoglycans