Studies on the Fetal Rat Lens

Effects of Intrauterine Adrenalin and Noradrenalin

¹ Departments of Anatomy and Surgery, Division of Ophthalmology, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry Rochester, N. Y.

Cataractous lenses were produced in 84 per cent of fetal rats surviving an injection of Adrenalin in saline, in 46 per cent of the animals injected with Adrenalin in oil, and in 50 per cent of the animals injected with noradrenalin in saline. The majority of the fetuses were injected on the sixteenth or seventeenth day of gestation. A description of the three types of cataracts--complete, partial, and slight--is given. Preliminary studies indicate that between the sixteenth and twenty-first days of fetal life the rat lens undergoes a marked increase in size and in its protein content. The enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is also present at this stage of development. The effect of Adrenalin on these lenses is reflected by an apparent inhibition of protein synthesis, whereas the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase remains unchanged. The mechanism of action of the agents employed and time specificity are discussed. Vasoconstriction of the hyaloid vessels with the production of temporary anoxia is thought to be the mode of action in the production of the cataractous lenses in the young rat.