Optical Properties of the Cultured Bovine Ocular Lens as an in Vitro Alternative to the Draize Eye Toxicity Test: Preliminary Validation for Alcohols

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The ocular lens is a cellular structure that is derived from the embryo-logical surface ectoderm, the same source as that of the epithelium of the cornea and conjunctiva. The physical parameters of the lens are sensitive to factors affecting single cells. In contrast to cultured corneal cells or excised corneas, the lens maintains its refractive function in vitro. Whole lens organ culture (using lenses from abattoir sources) accompanied by both refractive and scatter (relative transmittance) measurements may be an effective toxicological assay. We have developed an automated scanning laser system designed to monitor the focal length (spherical aberration) and transmittance of the cultured ocular lens during in vitro research. The apparatus consists essentially of a scanning laser beam (low power helium-neon), a video camera and television monitor, a video-frame digitizer, a personal computer, and special transparent lens culture cells. The digitizer determines the focal length and scatter value for the refracted beam at each beam position and a profile of the lens optical quality is produced. The validity of this approach was studied by examining the effects of five alcohols of 0.5 to 10% concentration (1-butanol, hexanol, butyl cellusolve, cyclohexanol, and 2-pro-panol) on the optical quality of the cultured bovine lens. Preliminary comparison with the standard Draize (in vivo) test scores indicates that this system provides a scaled measure of lens damage that compares favorably with standard Draize scores for the compounds included in this study. Key Words: Lens—In vitro—Optical quality—Toxicity.