부산대학교 도서관

Highly vascularized and deeply involved in the protection of the eyeball and eyelids, conjunctiva seems to be a very sensitive structure to oxidative stress. Despite opinions that sustain oxidative imbalance does not interfere with conjunctiva profile and functions, we incline to consider that oxidative stress affects conjunctival components. Material and methods: 42 adult male Wistar rats were randomly distributed in 6 groups: control/light deprivation/continuous light exposure/induced diabetes mellitus/diabetes mellitus+light deprivation/diabetes mellitus+continuous light exposure, as forms of oxidative stress. After a month, blood for antioxidant enzymes catalase (CAT) and malondialdehyde (MDA) assessment was taken, the rats were euthanasized and conjunctival samples were taken from all the rats used in experiment. The tissues were prepared for paraffin embedding and H&E staining. Results: The number of goblet cells dispersed among epithelial cells were sensible reduced in rat conjunctiva exposed to oxidative stress, sustained by significant alterations of specific biomarkers of oxidative stress, CAT and MDA. Conclusions: there is evidence on conjunctiva alterations in different forms of induced oxidative stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]