Abstract
Purpose: :
To measure the concentrations of heavy metals in the fluids and tissue of porcine eyes.
Methods: :
Twelve autopsy porcine eyes were dissected to obtain aqueous, vitreous, lens, ciliary body, retina and retinal pigment epithelium(RPE) samples. Concentrations of aluminum, titanium, vanadium, chromium, manganese, iron, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, selenium, strontium, molybdenum, silver, cadmium, tin, antimony, thallium and lead were determined using an inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer and expressed as ng/g. Heavy metal concentrations in ocular tissue were compared using a paired t test.
Results: :
All heavy metals that were studied except tin, cobalt and thallium were found in all the ocular tissues. Iron zinc and aluminum were found to have the highest concentrations.Iron had the highest concentration in the RPE (mean 27031.82 + 9007.23 ng/g), and zinc and aluminum had the highest concentration in the ciliary body (mean 10108.95 +2296 ng/g and 3379.77 + 1830 correspondingly). Lead, and cadmium were found concentrated to the greatest extent in the RPE (mean 3.17 + 1.56 ng/g and 3.10 + 1.48 correspondingly)
Conclusions: :
Iron, zinc and aluminum were found to have the highest concentration in all the different fluids and tissues of the porcine eyes, and had their highest concentration in the pigmented ocular tissues (RPE and ciliary body). Lead and cadmium accumulated in porcine ocular tissues particularly in the retinal pigment epithelium. Heavy metals may play a role in oxidative processes theorized to cause certain pathologic states.
Keywords: oxidation/oxidative or free radical damage • retina: neurochemistry