Ocular irritation leads to the appearance of proteolytic activity in the aqueous humor

Aqueous humor (AH) collected from healthy eyes of man and rabbit was analysed for proteolytic activity using a casein-agar assay. Normal AH collected during surgery or rabbit AH aspirated before ocular irritation contained no caseinolytic activity. In rabbits, mechanical irritation of the iris and subconjunctival as well as intracameral injection of capsaicin led to ocular irritative response. AH samples collected after such manipulation contained a considerable caseinolytic activity. On the other hand, anterior chamber puncture alone did not seem to induce elevation of caseinolytic activity in AH. The clinical significance of this phenomenon and the mechanisms behind it are discussed.