Fatty acid composition of lipids present in different parts of the ox eye

Abstract

The fatty acid patterns of the different tissues of the eye (retina, lens, optic nerve, lens capsule, corneal stroma, sclera, corneal epithelium, aqueous humour, vitreous body, ciliary body plus iris, and choroid) was measured. Optic nerve had the highest content of fatty acids (76.2 [mu]moles/g wet weight) but whereas retina had 22.6 [mu]moles/g wet weight. The other tissues ranged between 8.8 [mu]moles/g wet weight (choroid) and 0.02 [mu]mole/g wet weight (vitreous body). Insufficient amounts of corneal epithelium and lens capsule were available to estimate the quantity of fatty acids they contained. The retina was characterized by the high content of a C22 polyunsaturated acid (up to 30% of the total fatty acid). About 50% of the total fatty acids of the eye were unsaturated.