Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0086543 (cataract)
 29,165 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

It appears that morgagnian cataract is a special form of cortico-nuclear cataract. It is assumed that the process of fibre dissolution which is encountered in cortical cataract in general is speeded up and occurs en masse in morgagnian cataract. Enzymatic degradation of membrane and crystallin fibre components could then occur to produce liquefaction of the fibres and resorption of the cortical fluid. Factors responsible for the resistance of the nucleus to this process have been discussed. The high levels of calcium in the capsule and nucleus in this form of cataract could be due to the precipitation of calcium orthophosphate in the capsule and of calcium oxalate in the nucleus.
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PMID:Morgagnian cataract. 107 Aug 81

Lens retrodots are round, oblong, or oval features in the perinuclear zone of the adult lens after the fifth decade of life and associated with cataract. Retrodots were found in 47 out of 121 eyes with cataract (39%) in the present series. They show birefringence in vivo and in vitro, and chemical studies suggest that they contain calcium oxalate. It is proposed that ascorbic acid, which is abundant in the normal human lens, is the most likely source for this oxalate. Ascorbic acid is thought to have a protective role against oxidative stress in the lens and other parts of the eye, and its level is known to be reduced in senile cataract. The presence of the retrodots may identify lenses which have been exposed to oxidative stress and are less capable of resisting oxidative damage.
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PMID:Perinuclear lens retrodots: a role for ascorbate in cataractogenesis. 382 68

The spheroliths , mostly to be found in the brown nucleus of Morgagni's hypermature cataract, are up to 0.25 mm in diameter and consist of radially arranged crystals of calcium carbonate of oxalate. From the spheroliths extend, in varying degrees, marginally radial structures of a very fine filamentous, streaky character, that do not enter the altered protein of the lenticular nucleus. This, most probably, is a newly formed protein structure (a structure of mucopolysaccharides according to Zimmerman and Johnson 1958) in which secondary deposits of calcium carbonate or oxalate crystals accumulate. The spheroliths are usually round or kidney-shaped and rarely consist of more than one or two individual bodies.
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PMID:[Spheroliths of the lens]. 672 26

Cooperative Cataract Research Group (CCRG) photographic procedures developed by Chylack have made it possible to localize and analyze specific lens opacities for their ultrastructural and chemical characteristics. One group of human lens opacities has been shown to have a high phosphorus/sulfur ratio (as compared to normal lens fiber cells) and an accumulation of unit membranes. The present paper describes another variety of human lens opacity with the following characteristics: (1) high calcium, low sulfur, undetectable phosphorus, as determined by Energy Dispersive X-ray Analysis (EDXA) of bulk specimens in the scanning electron microscope (SEM), or "thick" sections with the transmission mode of the SEM; (2) spheroidal shape; (3) up to approximately 300 microns in size; and (4) birefringence. Microchemical analysis of these opacities shows that the calcium is in the form of calcium oxalate. These calcium-containing opacities, which have been detected in 14 out of 406 human cataractous lenses, have a characteristic morphology, as seen in the CCRG stereo photographs. Therefore, the presence of these calcium opacities, if not obscured by other kinds of opacities, can be detected with a high degree of accuracy in the fresh lens from the CCRG photographs alone.
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PMID:Calcium-containing opacities in the human lens. 688 7

1. The round, oval, or kidney-shaped, radially built spheroliths of the brown or morgagnian cataract show a double refraction in polarized light of about 0.160 optically positive. This is in accordance with Whewellite (calcium oxalate monohydrate). 2. In crystalline cataracts, there are crystals in polarized light with a mean double refraction of 0.046, which is in accordance with cholesterol (C27H48O). 3. In asteroid hyalinosis of the vitreous, the small bodies consisting of needle-shaped crystals arranged in a radial fashion show a small double refraction of 0.012. Therefore the crystal may be brushite (Ca HPO4 X 2 H2O).
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PMID:[Double refraction of crystals in the lens (spheroliths, "Christmas tree ornaments") and in the vitreous body (scintillatio nivea)]. 716 Jun 40

Carbohydrates with reactive aldehyde and ketone groups can undergo Maillard reactions with proteins to form advanced glycation end products. Oxalate monoalkylamide was identified as one of the advanced glycation end products formed from the Maillard reaction of ascorbate with proteins. In these experiments, we have analyzed human lens proteins immunochemically for the presence of oxalate monoalkylamide. Oxalate monoalkylamide was absent in most of the very young lenses but was present in old and cataractous lenses. The highest levels were found in senile brunescent lenses. Incubation experiments using bovine lens proteins revealed that oxalate monoalkylamide could form from the ascorbate degradation products, 2,3-diketogulonate and L-threose. These data provide the first evidence for oxalate monoalkylamide in vivo and suggest that ascorbate degradation and its binding to proteins are enhanced during lens aging and cataract formation.
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PMID:Immunochemical detection of oxalate monoalkylamide, an ascorbate-derived Maillard reaction product in the human lens. 1040 69

The degradation of L-ascorbate (AsA) and its primary oxidation products, L-dehydroascorbate (DHA) and 2,3-L-diketogulonate (2, 3-DKG) were studied under physiological conditions. Analysis determined that L-erythrulose (ERU) and oxalate were the primary degradation products of ASA regardless of which compound was used as the starting material. The identification of ERU was determined by proton decoupled (13)C-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and was quantified by high performance liquid chromatography, and enzymatic analysis. The molar yield of ERU from 2,3-DKG at pH 7.0 37 degrees C and limiting O(2)97%. This novel ketose product of AsA degradation, was additionally qualitatively identified by gas-liquid chromatography, and by thin layer chromatography. ERU is an extremely reactive ketose, which rapidly glycates and crosslinks proteins, and therefore may mediate the AsA-dependent modification of protein (ascorbylation) seen in vitro, and also proposed to occur in vivo in human lens during diabetic and age-onset cataract formation.
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PMID:The non-oxidative degradation of ascorbic acid at physiological conditions. 1072 45

A 56 year old man presented with ichthyosis vulgaris since early childhood, clinically characterised by fine scaling of the trunk and hyperkeratotic scales on the exterior surfaces of the upper and lower extremities. The patient also showed hypothyroidism due to hypoplastic thyroid, cataract, hypercholesterinemia with concommitant arcus cornealis and biliary concrements. Renal lithiasis caused by calcio-oxalate was additionally present. Endocrinological screening revealed growth hormone deficiency in the 1.55 m tall man-(secondary) osteoporosis was observed. The clinical symptomatology indicates that this case cannot be considered as a subtype of the inherited ichthyosis group, but suggests a new syndrome as a separate nosologic entity.
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PMID:Hypoplastic thyroid, growth hormone deficiency, corneal opacities, cataract and hyperkeratotic skin disease: a possible new ichthyosis syndrome associated with endocrinopathies. 1587 5