THE EFFECTS OF NITROGEN MUSTARD ON THE PERMEABILITY OF THE BLOOD-AQUEOUS HUMOUR BARRIER TO EVANS BLUE: An instance of the influence of a lesion in one eye on the susceptibility of the other

Abstract

In a series of expts. Evans blue 1024 was injd. intraven. into rabbits following instillation of N mustard into the conjunctival sac. Three solns. of varying toxicity of N mustard were used, and the concn. of the dye in the aqueous varied directly with this toxicity. The endothelial lining of the capillaries is possibly the sole blood-aqueous humour barrier, because the endothelium of the iris is prevented from acting as an intact membrane due to the presence of lacunae in that region. This barrier is normally impermeable to Evans blue 1024. N mustard dilates the capillaries and thus allows permeability of the dye. The action of the weak soln. of N mustard is enhanced when the strong soln. is present in the opposite eye. The iris vessels of the 1st eye become dilated following a reflex from the other eye, in addition to the dilatation due to the weak soln. of the N mustard.