Lens hardening may be responsible for presbyopia, cataract

Progressive age-dependent hardening of the lens nucleus may be responsible for both presbyopia and age-related nuclear cataract, two surgeons say.

S.J. McGinty and R.J.W. Truscott at the Save Sight Institute in Australia said “presbyopia may be the earliest observable symptom of age-related nuclear cataract.” The genesis of this type of cataract can be “traced to the onset of a barrier within the lens at middle age.” Antioxidants are prevented from entering the center of the lens as a result. In turn, the proteins in that part of the eye become susceptible to oxidation and post-translational modification, they said.

“We postulate that the onset of the barrier, and the hardening of the nucleus, are intimately linked,” they said.

The study is published in Ophthalmic Research.