Electrospray ionisation tandem mass spectrometry has allowed the unambiguous identification and quantification of individual lens phospholipids in human and six animal models. Using this approach ca. 100 unique phospholipids have been characterised. Parallel analysis of the same lens extracts by a novel direct-insertion electron-ionization technique found the cholesterol content of human lenses to be significantly higher (ca. 6 times) than lenses from the other animals. The most abundant phospholipids in all the lenses examined were choline-containing phospholipids. In rat, mouse, sheep, cow, pig and chicken, these were present largely as phosphatidylcholines, in contrast 66% of the total phospholipid in Homo sapiens was sphingomyelin, with the most abundant being dihydrosphingomyelins, in particular SM(d18:0/16:0) and SM(d18:0/24:1). The abundant glycerophospholipids within human lenses were found to be predominantly phosphatidylethanolamines and phosphatidylserines with surprisingly high concentrations of ether-linked alkyl chains identified in both classes. This study is the first to identify the phospholipid class (head-group) and assign the constituent fatty acid(s) for each lipid molecule and to quantify individual lens phospholipids using internal standards. These data clearly indicate marked differences in the membrane lipid composition of the human lens compared to commonly used animal models and thus predict a significant variation in the membrane properties of human lens fibre cells compared to those of other animals.

Lens polymer (possibly associated with surface characteristics) is a prominent factor affecting lipid and protein accumulation. Within a lens polymer type, lens care solutions exhibit varying effectiveness in reducing protein and lipid accumulation.

The normal osmolality of rabbit tears is significantly higher than that in humans. While divalent cations had little influence on human tears, they appear to have an important role in maintaining tear film stability in rabbits.

Background: Rabbits have a longer inter-blink time (approximately 10 minutes) compared with humans (five to eight seconds), suggesting that rabbits have a much more stable tear film. Using fluorescein, the tear break-up time of rabbits has been reported to be similar to that of humans. This study set out to measure the tear break-up time in rabbits using non-invasive methods and to establish the pattern of tear break-up compared to humans. Methods: The tear break-up time was measured and the pattern of tear break-up was observed in six New Zealand White rabbits on two separate occasions using both the Keeler Tearscope-plus TM and a slitlamp biomicroscope. Results: The mean rabbit tear break-up time was 29.8 Ϯ 3.4 (SD) minutes. This contrasts with the reports of human tear break-up time of eight to 30 seconds. The tear breaking spread very slowly and was often restricted to the area of the initial break. Conclusion: Rabbit tears have a significantly higher tear break-up time than humans and this aligns with previously demonstrated differences in inter-blink time between rabbits and humans. Understanding the underlying mechanisms of tear stability may lead to novel ways of increasing human tear film stability.