Bilirubin in the Vitreous Body of the Eye of Human Fetuses
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Bulletin of Experimental Biology and Medicine, Vol. 170, No. 1, November, 2020
EXPERIMENTAL BIOLOGY Bilirubin in the Vitreous Body of the Eye of Human Fetuses I. G. Panova1, Yu. V. Sukhova2, A. S. Tatikolov3, and T. Yu. Ivanets2
Translated from Byulleten’ Eksperimental’noi Biologii i Meditsiny, Vol. 170, No. 7, pp. 118-120, July, 2020 Original article submitted April 15, 2020 The bilirubin content in the vitreous body of the eye of human fetuses of gestation week 17-31 was measured. During gestation weeks 17-19, the mean bilirubin concentration was 8.67 μmol/liter; then, decreased to 1.37 μmol/liter (gestation weeks 20 to 31). Bilirubin, being an endogenous antioxidant, is probably involved in protection of the retina and lens from LPO processes that intensively develop in retinal neurons and lens fibers. Key Words: bilirubin; vitreous body; human fetuses; antioxidant
The vitreous body is a transparent gel-like substance that is located between the retina and lens and represents the internal media of the eye in vertebrates. It is responsible for the transport of metabolites to the inner parts of the eye to maintain their vital activity and functions [3]. Of particular interest is the molecular composition of the vitreous body of the human eye during embryonic and early prenatal development. This is associated with the growth and differentiation of the retina and lens and with biochemical changes in the composition of the vitreous body [5,9,14]. An important characteristic of the vitreous body in early prenatal development is the presence of a transient network of hyaloid blood vessels ensuring feeding and respiration of the embryonic lens and retina, and then undergo regression starting from gestation weeks 12-13 and throughout the whole second trimester [15]. This is paralleled by the formation of retinal vessels (gestation week 14) [9]. Oxygen in the vessels can provoke oxidative damage to membrane lipids in forming retinal neurons, the outer 1 N. K. Koltsov Institute of Developmental Biology, Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow, Russia; 2V. I. Kulakov National Medical Research Center of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Perinatology, Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation, Moscow, Russia; 3N. M. Ema nuel Institute of Biochemical Physics, Russian Academy of Scien ces, Moscow, Russia. Address for correspondence: [email protected]. I. G. Panova
segments of the photoreceptors, lens fibers, and the vitreous body. That is why, the above-mentioned tissues of the eye need potent antioxidant protection. One of the important endogenous antioxidants of blood serum is bilirubin. The biological functions of bilirubin include antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, immunomodulatory, cytoprotective, and neuroprotective properties [1,4,10]. However, high levels of bilirubin lead to a serious condition, jaundice. In jaundice, the presence of bilirubin in the tissues of the eye, including the vitreous body, was shown, although normally in adult humans, bilirubin is not detected in the vitreous body [6]. Jaundice is often found in full-t
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