The causes of vitreous humor (VH) liquefaction remain unclear. Diabetes accelerates this process and other ocular diseases. The weakening of the blood-retina barrier observed with diabetes could enhance the rate of transfer of relatively small molecules such as glucose (Glu) and phospholipids (PLs) from the retina to the VH. Glucose and PLs have been detected previously in VH but their regional distributions are not known. The mapping of Glu and PLs in VHs from subjects with and without diabetes could reveal the roles of these molecules in VH liquefaction. Diabetic and non-diabetic human eyes were acquired from the Kentucky Lions Eye Bank and frozen immediately. Each VH was removed and halved along the sagittal plane. One half was stamped on a matrix assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) plate. Either p-Nitroanaline (26 mg/mL MeOH:CHCl₃) or 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (20 mg/mL H₂O:acetonitrile) was used as matrix. Glu and PLs were extracted from the remaining sections and analyzed. Data were acquired using a MALDI-mass spectrometer. The levels of Glu and PLs were significantly greater in VH from diabetics (VHd) compared with VH from non-diabetics (VHnd). VHds showed the highest relative levels of PLs in the posterior VH, followed by the anterior and central regions. Throughout the entire VH, the most abundant PLs were phosphatidylcholines followed by sphingomyelins. For Glu, the relative intensities were ~3 times higher in the posterior region of VHd (12 ± 1.3) compared with VHnd (6.5 ± 0.7) VHs. Regional studies showed that relative to the posterior VHd, the Glu levels were lower in the anterior (8.1 ± 1.0) and central (6.7 ± 0.8) regions. For the VHnds, the values for the central and anterior regions were 5.9 ± 1.2 and 4.7 ± 0.9, respectively. PLs and Glu are most abundant in the posterior region relative to the central and anterior zones of VHs. This trend was observed in VHd and VHnd, but PLs and Glu levels were significantly higher in VHds. These results support the possibility that higher levels of Glu and PLs accelerate VH liquefaction in diabetic patients. As liquefaction begins in the posterior region, the higher abundance of PLs and Glu in this zone also suggests that they may play a role in liquefaction. The specific molecular interactions affected by Glu and PLs in the collagen/hyaluronan/water network need to be examined.

玻璃体液化（VH）液化的原因仍不清楚。糖尿病会加速这一过程和其他眼部疾病。在糖尿病中观察到的血液-视网膜屏障的减弱可以提高相对较小的分子，例如葡萄糖（Glu）和磷脂（PLs）从视网膜向VH的转移速率。先前已在VH中检测到葡萄糖和PL，但其区域分布未知。患有和不患有糖尿病的受试者的VH中Glu和PL的作图可以揭示这些分子在VH液化中的作用。糖尿病人眼和非糖尿病人眼是从肯塔基狮子眼银行购得的，并立即冷冻。移除每个VH并沿矢状平面将其减半。将一半压印在基质辅助激光解吸电离（MALDI）板上。要么p-硝基硝基苯胺（26mg / mL MeOH：CHCl ₃）或2，5-二羟基苯甲酸（20mg / mL H ₂ O：乙腈）用作基质。从剩余部分中提取Glu和PL并进行分析。使用MALDI-质谱仪获取数据。与非糖尿病患者的VH（VH nd）相比，糖尿病患者的VH（VH d）的Glu和PLs水平明显更高。VH d s在后VH中显示出最高的PL相对水平，其次是前部和中部区域。在整个VH中，最丰富的PL是磷脂酰胆碱，其次是鞘磷脂。对于Glu，在VH d的后部区域（12±1.3）的相对强度比VH高约3倍nd（6.5±0.7）VHs。区域研究表明，相对于后VH d，前（8.1±1.0）和中部（6.7±0.8）区域的Glu水平较低。对于VH nd，中部和前部区域的值分别为5.9±1.2和4.7±0.9。相对于VH的中部和前部区域，PL和Glu在后部区域最丰富。在VH中观察到这种趋势d和VH ND，但伪卫星和Glu水平VH均显著更高ds。这些结果支持较高水平的Glu和PL加速糖尿病患者VH液化的可能性。当液化开始于后部区域时，该区域中较高的PL和Glu含量也表明它们可能在液化中起作用。需要检查胶原蛋白/透明质酸/水网络中受Glu和PL影响的特定分子相互作用。