2S.B. Ankara Atatürk Eğitim ve Araştırma Hastanesi 1. Göz Kliniği Şefi, Ankara Purpose: To compare serum vitamine B12 and folic acid levels of patients with cortical cataract those of the patients with posterior subcapsular cataract.
Materials and Methods: Thirty five cases with cortical cataract and thirty one cases with posterior subcapsular cataract were enrolled in this study. Serum levels of vitamin B12 and folic acid were measured.
Results: Mean serum folic acid values were 5.4±4.5 ng/ml in cases with cortical cataract and 10.3±4.,9 ng/ml in cases with posterior subcapsular cataract. Difference between two groups was significant (p=0.001). Mean serum vitamin B12 values were 249±109 pg/ml in cases with cortical cataract and 285±195 pg/ml in cases with posterior subcapsular cataract. The difference between two groups was not significant (p=0.352).
Conclusions: Folic acid has an important function in repair process of damaged DNA. Relatively low levels of folic acid values could aggravate DNA damage caused by oxidative stress and could enhance cortical cataract development. Folic acid values were not excessively low in cases with posterior subcapsular cataract. Therefore, development of posterior subcapsular cataract may be caused by another mechanism other than DNA damage caused by oxidative stress. Keywords : Folic acid, vitamin B12, cataract
