ABSTRACT
The permeability of the blood aqueous and blood retinal barrier, the lens transmission, and the lens autofluorescence were measured by fluorophotometry in 7 diabetic youngsters treated by conventional therapy (mean age, 10.9 +/- 4.4 years), 9 diabetic youngsters treated by continuous s.c. insulin infusion (mean age, 12.3 +/- 5.0 years), and 13 healthy controls (mean age, 12.4 +/- 5.1 years). The mean permeability value for the blood retinal barrier of the diabetic juveniles did not differ significantly from that of the controls (P greater than 0.4), and no correlation with metabolic control (HbAlc) or duration of diabetes was found (P greater than 0.1). No differences in lens transmission larger than 4% were found. The mean value of lens autofluorescence corrected for normal age-dependency was found to correlate with the metabolic control: an increase of mean HbAlc by 1% resulted in an extra increase of autofluorescence by 11% (P = 0.002). This result suggests that good metabolic control can suppress excess lens autofluorescence, a precursor of cataract.
Subject(s)
Aqueous Humor/metabolism , Blood-Retinal Barrier , Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1/physiopathology , Fluoresceins/pharmacokinetics , Lens, Crystalline/metabolism , Adolescent , Anterior Chamber/analysis , Capillary Permeability , Child , Child, Preschool , Fluorescein Angiography , Fluorometry , Fundus Oculi , Humans , Visual Acuity , Vitreous Body/analysisABSTRACT
Autofluorescence and transmission values of the lens for blue-green light were determined at two locations with the use of identical fluorophotometers: in Coimbra, Portugal, in 44 healthy controls, 15 haemodialysis and 11 renal failure patients, and in Leiden, The Netherlands, in 57 healthy controls, 23 haemodialysis and 47 renal transplant patients. The increase in lens autofluorescence as a function of age was 42% higher in the Portuguese controls than that in the Dutch controls (p less than 0.001), but the lens transmission did not differ significantly (p = 0.21). Significant differences were found between the autofluorescence values of the Portuguese haemodialysis and renal failure patients and those of age-matched local controls (+18%, p = 0.009, and +26%, p = 0.03, respectively), as well as between the lens transmission values of the Portuguese renal failure patients and those of age-matched local controls (-2%, p = 0.03). In the renal transplant patients the average autofluorescence and lens transmission values were equal to those of the local controls (within 3%) and independent of the number of anti-rejection treatments administered.
