Pathological changes in the lens of hypergalactosemia rats

    YAN Jingª²Xia, TIAN Yanª²Xia, ZHAO Yuª²Fang

    Department of Histology & Embryology, North China Coal Medical College, Tangshan, 063000, China

    ¡¾Abstract¡¿ AIM: To observe the pathological changes in the lens of hypergalactosemia mice. METHODS: By intraperitoneal injection of galactose, the hypergalactosemia mice models were induced. The lens of the mice were enucleated and were observed by light microscopy and electron microscopy in the early stage of the disease.RESULTS: On the third day of hypergalactosemia induction, many vacuoles were observed in the epithelial cells of the lens by light microscopy, and the fibers were also observed to have been swollen. The electron microscopic examination revealed that the gap junctions were destroyed on membranes of the epithelial cells of the lens and many vacuoles were observed in the plasma of the cells. CONCLUSION: Hypergalactosemia at the early period can cause lens opacity and finally lead to cataract. ......