Cataract And Lens Aging Study With The Dynamic Light Sca

白内障是世界上最主要的致盲原因，目前只能通过手术切除来治疗。手术，虽然在美国很容易获得和安全地进行，在世界上许多不发达地区，如亚洲、非洲、中东和南美洲，因此，我们正在研究非手术治疗白内障的方法，一种新的设备有望帮助我们找到可能导致白内障的人类透镜发生的变化，这将帮助我们找到治疗白内障的方法。关于白内障的原因，有一种理论认为，一些因素，如阳光或缺乏保护性的抗氧化维生素，可能会导致透镜内的蛋白质聚集，形成不透明的高分子量“聚集体”。最近，已经创建了一种装置来确定分子相互作用，包括在透镜的核中发生的透镜晶体相互作用，称为动态光散射装置（DLS）。在白内障动物模型上使用新的DLS设备，我们发现了白内障出现时蛋白质聚集的证据。初步研究表明，在抗白内障治疗理论上最有效逆转、延迟或预防白内障的阶段，它在检测白内障发生的最早变化方面具有潜力。NASA使用低能量激光器开发了这种设备的新小型化版本，并在NEI进行了进一步的开发和临床测试。我们成功地将DLS设备安装在角膜镜上，角膜镜具有3-D瞄准系统以提高可重复性。我们最近对正常人类志愿者进行了一项初步研究（第1阶段），以评估该仪器用于定量透镜变化的有用性和重现性，并发现良好的重现性。我们还确定了最有用的参数是来自粒度分布的平均粒度。我们现在进入该项目的第2阶段，对老化引起的透镜变化（年龄相关变化）以及三种代表性白内障（核性、皮质性和PSC）进行研究。这些数据将有助于表征与正常老化以及与白内障形成相关的人类透镜的分子变化。有了这些信息，我们希望更好地了解白内障的根本原因，并在未来开发药物来延迟或预防白内障的形成。

Cataracts are the foremost cause of blindness in the world and currently can be treated only by surgical removal. Surgery, although easily available and safely performed in the U.S., is not easily available nor safely performed in many undeveloped regions in the world like Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. Hence we are studying ways to treat cataracts non-surgically, and a new device promises to help us find out what happens to the human lens that may cause cataracts, which will then help us find a cure for cataracts.One theory on the cause of cataracts is that some factors such as sunlight or lack of protective anti-oxidant vitamins may cause the proteins inside the lens to aggregate to form opaque high molecular weight "aggregates". Recently, a device has been created to determine molecular interactions, including lens crystalline interactions that occur in the nucleus of the lens, called Dynamic Light Scattering Device (DLS). Using the new DLS device on animal models of cataract, we have found evidence of this aggregation of proteins as a cataract appears.Preliminary studies have shown its potential in the detection of the earliest changes occurring in cataract, at the stage where anticataract treatment would theoretically be most effective in reversing, delaying or preventing cataracts. A new miniaturized version of this device has been developed by NASA using lower energy lasers and offered for further development and clinical testing at the NEI. We mounted the DLS device successfully on the Keratoscope, which had a 3-D aiming system to enhance repeatability. We recently conducted a pilot study on normal human volunteers (Phase 1) to evaluate the usefulness and reproducibility of this instrument for quantitating lens changes, and found good reproducibility. We also determined that the most useful parameter to use is mean particle size derived from particle size distribution. We now move into Phase 2 of this project to conduct a study on changes on the lens due to aging (age related changes), as well as on the three representative types of cataracts (nuclear, cortical and PSC). These data will help characterize molecular changes in the human lens associated with normal aging as well as those associated with cataract formation. With this information, we hope to better understand the underlying causes of cataracts and, in the future, develop medications to delay or prevent cataract formation.