The Viscosity of the Vitreous Humor Influenced by Hormones

During the last few years several papers on the structure and chemistry of the vitreous body have appeared, but many problems remain unsolved. At the present time the vitreous humor is mostly considered to be a transparent acellular avascular gel, consisting of a fibrous solid material and a viscous solution. The former, known as the residual protein, has many features in common with collagen (Pirie et al., 19481; Matoltsy, 19522). The viscous fluid obtained after removal of the residual protein is known to contain one acid mucopolysaccharide, hyaluronic acid, as well as soluble proteins. The hyaluronic acid, first found by Meyer and Palmer (1934, 1936)3,4in bovine vitreous, is an important part of a large group of natural polyelectrolytes. The hyaluronic acid is present in the fine network of fibrils of the vitreous, which is reinforced by the hydrated hyaluronic-acid molecules (Balazs, 19545); it lends the