THE CONTENT OF LUTEIN AND ITS OXIDIZED FORMS IN HUMAN EYE TISSUES IN PRENATAL DEVELOPMENT

Purpose. To study the presence of carotenoids in the tissues of prenatal human eye in the course of its development. Material and methods. The eyes were obtained from abortive human fetuses of 12-28 weeks of pregnancy. The fetuses were brought to the Kulakov Research Center of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Perinatology, the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, from licensed institutions of the Ministry of Public Health, working under the Russian Federation legislation on citizen health protection, and in accordance with the approved list of medical indications. The ages of the fetuses were determined by an obstetrician. Totally, 49 samples of eye tissues from human fetuses at different pregnancy ages were used. The content of carotenoids and their oxidized forms was measured by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) technique. Results. The presence of lutein and/or its oxidized forms was estimated by HPLC in the tissues of prenatal human eyes (cornea, sclera, optic nerve, retinal pigment epithelium with choroid, ciliary body with iris, vitreous body). Conclusion. The finding of lutein or oxidized forms of lutein in tissues of the human eye in the course of prenatal development is of essential interests for understanding physiology of the prenatal and postnatal eye.