Effects of Fuchs uveitis syndrome on the ultrastructure of the anterior lens epithelium: A transmission electron microscopic study

Abstract

Purpose:The purpose of the study was to investigate the electron microscopic findings of the lens epithelial cells (LECs) in patients with Fuchs uveitis syndrome (FUS) who suffered from cataracts and to compare those with age-matched controls.Methods:This study was a prospective, comparative case series. The anterior lens capsules (ALC: basement membrane and associated LECs) were taken from 12 eyes of 12 cases of FUS and ten eyes of ten control patients. The ALCs were obtained from cataract surgery and prepared for transmission electron microscopy (TEM).Results:There were no statistically significant differences regarding the age or gender between the FUS group and the control group (P > 0.05). In the TEM examinations of the ALCs, all of the FUS cases revealed similar significant ultrastructural changes when compared to the control patients. In the FUS group, the LECs showed homogeneous thickening and irregularity which included some small vacuoles in different areas of the epithelial tissue. Moreover, in some areas of the LECs, widespread, oval-shaped, pigment clusters were detected. Conversely, in the control group, the LECs and all of their elements were in normal ultrastructural patterns, with the exception of some small intraepithelial vacuoles which were fewer and smaller than those in the FUS group.Conclusion:Ultrastructural analysis of the ALC of the patients with FUS disclosed some significant alterations which may be related to the summation of oxidative stress, intraocular inflammation, and iris atrophy.

Severe Abnormalities of Lens Epithelial Cells in Exfoliation Syndrome: A Transmission Electron Microscopy Study of Patients with Age-Related Cataract

“…Diseases like uveitis [8,31], retinitis pigmentosa [26], Wilson’s disease [25], and Alport syndrome [28] have been associated with the presence of lens epithelial lesions, such as holes, thinning and degradation of the epithelium [26], vacuoles [31], capsular dehiscences [28] or granular deposits [25]. This is, therefore, why patients with those diseases were excluded from the study; nevertheless, our observations exhibited similarities with the above lesions.…”

“…Exclusion criteria for the patients’ recruitment were specific radiation exposure, uveitis, retinitis pigmentosa, Wilson’s disease, Alport syndrome and non-senile or intumescent white cataracts. These are all conditions that have been described to cause degenerative alterations to the lens epithelium [8,24,25,26,27,28,29,30,31,32,33]. The nature of the study, which follows the tenets of the Declaration of Helsinki, and all the scheduled procedures, were thoroughly explained to all patients.…”

Modern etiological and pathogenetic aspects of chronic peripheral uveitis

“…Согласно клиническим наблюдениям, ХПУ нередко развивается у пациентов с рассеянным склерозом [10,31,78,82], идиопатическим невритом зрительного нерва, аутоиммунными вос-палительными заболеваниями кишечника, саркоидозом, лимфомой глаз (в качестве маскарадного синдрома) [3,7,11,19,24,28,46,49,65,83,86]. При этом воспаление хориоретинальных структур на крайней периферии глазного дна зачастую предшествует развитию основного заболевания [8].…”

“…Например, манифестация неврологических симптомов при рассеянном склерозе происходит в среднем через 8,5 лет после развития ХПУ [7]. В связи с этим многие офтальмологи при обнаружении ХПУ рекомендуют проведение дополнительного обследования для исключения сопутствующей системной патологии [10,78,82].…”

Συγκριτική Υπερμικροσκοπική Μελέτη Προσθίου Περιφακίου Καταρρακτικών Ασθενών Σε Σχέση Με Την Παρουσία Ψευδοαποφολιδωτικού Συνδρόμου

“…Παθήσεις όπως η ραγοειδίτιδα 156,157 , η μελαγχρωστική αμφιβληστροειδοπάθεια 158 , η νόσος Wilson 159 και το σύνδρομο Alport 160 έχουν συσχετισθεί με αλλοιώσεις του επιθηλίου, όπως οπές, λέπτυνση και εκφύλιση του επιθηλίου 158 , κενοτόπια 157 , διαταραχές της βασικής μεμβράνης 160 και κοκκώδεις εναποθέσεις 159 . Αυτός είναι και ο λόγος ότι οι ανωτέρω παθήσεις αποκλείστηκαν από την παρούσα μελέτη.…”