Comparing the content of lipids derived from the eye lenses of various species

The lipid content in the eye lens was analyzed and compared among various species in this study. The eye lens lipids of the following species were investigated: cow, horse, duck, and freshwater trout. Additionally, the lipids derived from cataractous bovine lens and from cataractous human eye lens lipoprotein complexes were analyzed. The following lipid classes were detected in clear lenses: cholesterol, sphingomyelin, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidyletanolamine, and phosphatidylserine. In cataractous bovine lens and in lipoprotein complexes from human nuclear cataract, phosphatidyloinositol and phosphatidyloglycerol were detected. Cholesterol and sphingomyelin, essential for hypothetical formation of cholesterol-rich domains, were the most abundant lipids in the lenses of all investigated species. These two components of eye lens lipid fraction were analyzed quantitatively using thin layer chromatography and spectrophotometric assay; the other lipids were identified qualitatively using thin layer chromatography.