K-STATE PROFESSOR SEARCHES FOR CAUSE, BETTER TREATMENT OF CATARACTS

MANHATTAN -- When the windows are so dirty that they cannot transmit light, most people would never consider replacing them with new ones. Instead, they would scrub them with cleanser until they became transparent again.

Unfortunately, what's possible for the window at home is currently impossible for the window to the soul. Cataract formation, or the clouding of the lens, is a major cause of blindness in America. Larry Takemoto, professor of biology at Kansas State University, explains that surgical removal of the lens is the only current alternative.

"Surgery is the only true treatment for cataracts, which means the lens must be removed along with the cataract. We can correct vision with eyeglasses or contact lenses, but it is never 100 percent normal again," he said.

People with cataracts lose their visual acuity when light scatters inside the eye, creating glares especially at night. As formation progresses, these problems occur in the daytime as well.

Cataracts most often affect the elderly, as the aging process of the lens seems to accelerate cataract formation. The cost, therefore, stretches beyond pain and suffering into the pocketbooks of the federal government. Takemoto said, "Cataract removal is the single highest cost of any of the categories in the Medicare budget."

However, Takemoto's team is attempting to find another alternative to surgery. Their research focuses on discovering the reasons why cataracts form, as well as creating and testing new drugs for treatment.

A cataract forms as a result of biochemical changes in the lens, resulting in a loss of transparency. "I look at changes in protein, which makes up most of the dry weight of the lens. It is modified chemically during aging," Takemoto says, "and those modifications play an important role in cataract development."

The lens consists of protein as well as water, but is transparent because of the way the two are structured. When the positioning of the water and protein molecules are biochemically altered, the lens becomes translucent and obstructs vision. "Generally, all evidence points to an oxidation of proteins, where the proteins combine with oxygen in one form or another," Takemoto explains.

Another possible link to biochemical changes within the lens is ultraviolet radiation. Takemoto points to studies that have been done on fishermen in the Chesapeake Bay who displayed greater frequency of cataracts. These men were exposed to ultraviolet light from the sun for longer periods of time, and it is possible that this increased radiation created an adverse, cataract-forming reaction.

While cleaning solution may be applied to the dirt on the surface of a window, any eye drops or drugs would have to halt the biochemical reaction taking place in the lens in order to uncloud it. Takemoto admits that the process to find such a drug is challenging. "We don't know exactly what's occurring chemically, so it's hard to design a drug for cataracts. Also, in order to test the drug, we need an animal model. Testing a drug on humans would take too long, so finding an animal model is important," Takemoto said.

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For more information, contact Takemoto at 785-532-6615.

April 1998