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Abstract
Exposure of albino mice to near-ultraviolet (black) light for 12 hours a day over a period of 90 weeks led to pathologic changes in the lens and retina. In the lens, epithelial cell conversion to fiber cells is inhibited by 35 weeks, and accumulation of their pyknotic nuclei continues with time so as to permeate much of the lens cortex, even at the posterior pole. Opacities were observed from 50 weeks on. In the retina, outer segment thinning was first noted after 10 weeks. From 16 weeks on, many phagocytic wandering cells were observed to be digesting the outer segments. By 70 weeks, most photoreceptor cells (including the outer nuclear layer) were entirely digested.