Biohazardous Impact of Hydrogen Sulfide Gas Exposure on Tear Film Constituents: Structural Characterization by Ultraviolet Spectroscopy

Background/aimHumans can beexposed to hydrogen sulfide gas due to either endogenous or exogenous sources. The health effects associated with exposure to hydrogen sulfide is dependent on its concentration and the duration of exposure. It includes -among many other effects- eye irritation, tearing and inflammation. This study aims to clarify the ocular bio-hazardous effects induced in tear film due to H2S exposure by using Ultraviolet spectroscopy. Materials and methods:Sixty Chinchilla rabbits wererandomly grouped into six subgroups.Group one served as control. Animals were exposed to hydrogen sulfide gas with concentrations of75, 90,115, 250 and 500 ppm. After exposure, tears were collected from the lower lid using glass micro capillariesand its structural characteristics were investigated immediately with ultraviolet spectroscopy. The curve enhancement procedure using Fourier deconvolution was also applied to resolve the obtained absorption peaks. Results:The control pattern indicates thepresence of three absorption peaks at 203±5 nm, 273±3 nm and 323± 4 nm, which represent the native lipids, trine conjugation and retinolrespectively. After exposure to the specified concentrations of H2S the general observation is that the number of detected peaks varied with increasing the H2S dose. Conclusion: Tear’s lipid is the primary target for hydrogen sulfide; this was associated with changes in the retinol content.