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Electron microscopic evaluation of anterior lens epithelium in patients with idiopathic congenital cataract

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the ultrastructure of the lens epithelial cells (LECs) in patients with idiopathic congenital cataract.

Methods

This is a prospective interventional study. The anterior lens capsules (aLC: basement membrane and associated LECs) were taken from 16 eyes of 12 consecutive patients who were diagnosed as having idiopathic congenital cataracts. The aLCs were obtained from cataract surgery and prepared for transmission electron microscopy (TEM).

Results

Some significant ultrastructural changes were observed in all aLCs of the participants. The anterior LECs showed alterations in different areas which were partly cuboidal and partly squamous in shape. The LECs had euchromatic nucleus and included some vacuoles in the cytoplasms as a remarkable alteration. The sizes of these intraepithelial cell vacuoles were changeable.

Conclusions

We identified remarkable changes in LECs of the eyes with idiopathic congenital cataract by TEM. It can be assumed that oxidative damage may be associated with these ultrastructural changes in LECs of the eyes with idiopathic congenital cataracts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Ankara Ulucanlar Eye Training and Research Hospital, 06240, Ankara, Turkey

    Kemal Tekin, Yasemin Ozdamar Erol, Merve Inanc, Cigdem Ulku Can, Sibel Polat & Pelin Yilmazbas

  2. Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Mustafa Fevzi Sargon

Authors
  1. Kemal Tekin
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  2. Yasemin Ozdamar Erol
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  3. Merve Inanc
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  4. Mustafa Fevzi Sargon
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  5. Cigdem Ulku Can
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  7. Pelin Yilmazbas
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Correspondence to Kemal Tekin.

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Conflict of interest

All authors certify that they have no affiliations with or involvement in any organization or entity with any financial interest (such as honoraria; educational grants; participation in speakers’ bureaus; membership, employment, consultancies, stock ownership or other equity interest; and expert testimony or patent-licensing arrangements) or non-financial interest (such as personal or professional relationships, affiliations, knowledge or beliefs) in the subject matter or materials discussed in this manuscript.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Tekin, K., Erol, Y.O., Inanc, M. et al. Electron microscopic evaluation of anterior lens epithelium in patients with idiopathic congenital cataract. Int Ophthalmol 38, 2127–2132 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-017-0713-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10792-017-0713-1

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