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Reduced cholesterol levels may be cause of cataract
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Reduced levels of cholesterol in the eye’s natural lens and in a portion of the brain linked to vision may be partially responsible for cataract formation, according to an animal study.
Masayuki Mori and colleagues at Shinshu University Graduate School of Medicine in Japan attempted to identify the genes associated with cataract formation in Shumiya cataract rats by positional cloning.
Cataract onset was associated with a specific gene deficiency combination that decreased cholesterol levels in cataractous lenses to about 57% of normal, they said.
“Cholesterol insufficiency may underlie the deficient proliferation of lens epithelial cells in [these rats], which results in the loss of homeostatic epithelial cell control of the underlying fiber cells and eventually leads to caratactogenesis,” they said.
The researchers believe their findings may have implications in other types of cataracts, inborn defects of cholesterol synthesis and the effects of cholesterol-lowering medication.
The study is published in the Journal of Clinical Investigation.