PMID: 2508129Jan 1, 1989Paper

Cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase pathways in anterior uvea and conjunctiva

Progress in Clinical and Biological Research
P S Kulkarni, B D Srinivasan

Abstract

It has been demonstrated that normal, uninflamed, anterior uvea and conjunctiva of different species have the capacity to synthesize cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase products. Cyclooxygenase activity is greater than lipoxygenase activity in both anterior uvea and conjunctival tissues. Other ocular tissues such as cornea, lens, and retina were found to have much lesser capacity than the conjunctiva and anterior uvea to synthesize cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase products from arachidonic acid. In our preliminary studies, we also observed that human retina have considerably less ability to metabolize AA into cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase activity. The finding that the anterior uvea of all species studied has a high capacity to synthesize PGs and other cyclooxygenase products maybe of particular physiological significance since several investigators have demonstrated that PGE2 and PGF2 alpha in low doses, lower intraocular pressure in all species studied, including the human eye. Additionally, PGE2 can be shown to have some anti-inflammatory effects. In light of these observations, we must consider that the high endogenous cyclooxygenase activity in normal conjunctiva and anterior uvea may play a role in maintaining normal intraoc...Continue Reading

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