Eye lens crystallins: a component of intraocular pseudoexfoliative material.

Feeding experimental animals (19 pigs) with surplus sucrose and salt (NaCl) caused cataractous changes in lens tissue and triggered the formation of pseudoexfoliative material on the lens capsule. In the control animals (15 pigs) pseudoexfoliative material was absent. The avidin-biotin complex immunohistochemical method was applied to the pseudoexfoliative material obtained from 15 porcine experimental precataractous lenses and 1 spontaneously cataractous eye and revealed crystallins as a component of the intraocular pseudoexfoliative material. To prevent the development of both intraocular pseudoexfoliative material and crystallin-dependent glaucomatous changes in the trabecular meshwork of the eye, it is important to avoid any cataractogenic insult, including surplus sucrose and salt consumption, causing crystallin leakage from the lens.