Accumulation of Fibrillar Protein in the Aging Human Lens Capsule: With Special Reference to the Pathogenesis of Pseudoexfoliative Disease of the Lens

Filaments staining with chrome hematoxylin accumulate in the preequatorial region of the aging lens capsule. Their electron microscopic, histochemical, and tinctorial properties indicate that they consist of fibrillar protein banded at 500 Angstrom intervals, which is similar to, if not identical with the material characteristically occupying a similar zone of the capsule in pseudoexfoliative disease of the lens. It is therefore considered that the subcapsular epithelial cells of the preequatorial region synthesize a fibrillar protein (seen as filaments by light microscopy) in the majority of aging persons, and that in a few, the excessive accumulation of this material results in pseudoexfoliative disease.