Elisabeth Latour

Oxidative stress and lens opacity: an overall approach to screening anticataractous drugs.

Since oxidative stress is a well substantiated hypothesis of cataract pathogenesis, screening was performed in acellular systems in order to select scavengers of reactive oxygen species; the selected compounds are at present being tested in lens culture and in animal models.

Singlet Oxygen-Induced Damage to Rat Lenses in Vitro: Protection by Anisyldithiolthione

Oxidation is now recognized as being the major process involved m lens changes associated with cataract development (1). Visible light and near UV (300–400 nm) could be an important source of oxygen reactive species, in particular singlet oxygen Photosensitizers such as rihoiiavin and N-formylkynurenine have been shown to be present in the lens (2) Singlet oxygen provokes in vitro the same alterations in lens cristallins as those observed in aging and cataracts (3, 4) This reactive species also produces an impairment of transport systems in the rat lens (5). Furthermore, it is a powerful inducer of lipid peroxidation considered as an initiating event in cataract formation (6).

Free Radical Scavenging Capacity and Anti-Inflammatory Activity of CBS-113 A

CBS-113 A, 2-(2-Hydroxy-4-methylphenyl)aminothiazole hydrochloride, is a dual inhibitor of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase with topical anti-inflammatory activity (1). This compound is also a powerful free radical (FR) scavenger. The aim of this study was to design a pharmacological model of ocular inflammation for determining the respective contribution of the FR scavenging capacity and the inhibition of icosanoid production to the anti-inflammatory activity of this compound.