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Abstract
The distribution of free amino acids and related compounds in the ocular fluids, lens, and plasma of rats, cats, and two species of monkeys was studied with column chromatography. In contrast to previous observations on the rabbit, the concentration of almost all of the amino acids in the anterior aqueous is lower than in plasma. Like the rabbit, the concentration of amino acids in the primate vitreous is lower than in aqueous and that in the lens is higher than either aqueous or plasma. Lenses from monkeys were observed to contain an unidentified ninhydrin-positive compound which was not present in other lenses studied, but it appears to be identical with a substance found in human lenses. Despite the relative deficiency of amino acids in the aqueous, transport across blood aqueous barriers was shown to occur by a mechanism which could be saturated. It is concluded that active transport mechanisms in ocular chambers previously demonstrated in the rabbit, and in bovine eyes where the concentration in the aqueous is higher than in plasma, are also present in the rat.