Location and severity of UVB irradiation damage in the rat lens

We investigated the location and severity of lens opacities and epithelial alterations following ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiation in vivo, using Brown Norway rats. A group of 9 rats received 65 mJ/cm2 UVB irradiation from overhead lamps every 6 days. Lens changes were documented and evaluated by an anterior eye segment analysis system. Lens epithelial cells were examined postmortem in flat preparations. After 8 weeks of the irradiation schedule (total dose: 0.6 J/cm2), an anterior polar opacity was apparent; at 16 weeks, the opacities had progressed more deeply into the cortex. At postmortem examination, cells in the central region displayed disorganization, clumping, some pyknotic nuclei and mitosis. There were deeper opacities and cell damage was more severe above the central horizontal plane than below it. This present study demonstrated that UVB damage differed in the superior and inferior parts divided by a horizontal plane through the lens anterior pole, when the UVB source was above and there was no reflection from below or laterally. The lens epithelial cells, and associated lens fibers, are the first target of UVB irradiation.