Investigative ophthalmology & visual science
-
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Aug 2003
The effect of up- and downregulation of MnSOD enzyme on oxidative stress in human lens epithelial cells.
Gene knockouts serve as useful experimental models to investigate the role of antioxidant enzymes in protection against oxidative stress in the lens. In the absence of gene knockout animals for Mn-containing superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), the effect of this enzyme on oxidative stress was investigated in a human lens epithelial cell line (SRA 01/04) in which the enzyme was up- or downregulated by transfection with sense and antisense expression vectors for MnSOD. ⋯ These findings demonstrate the protective effect of MnSOD in antioxidant defense of cultured lens epithelial cells. This approach to modulating the enzyme level in cultured cells provides a new experimental model for study of the role of antioxidant enzymes in the lens.
-
Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci. · Aug 2003
Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical TrialScotopic electroretinogram in term infants born of mothers supplemented with docosahexaenoic acid during pregnancy.
To test the hypothesis that the supplementation of the diets of pregnant women with a fish oil rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) enhances retinal development in their healthy term infants, as measured during the early postnatal period by the electroretinogram (ERG). ⋯ These findings demonstrate an association between the DHA status of term infants and retinal sensitivity, suggesting an essential role of this long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid (LCPUFA) in the development and function of the retina. However, maternal DHA status was not significantly associated with infant retinal sensitivity and no direct effect of maternal supplementation was observed.