|
|
Article: Phototoxicity in Human Lens Epithelial Cells Promoted by St. John's Wort¶
- Article from:
- Photochemistry and Photobiology
- Article date:
- November 1, 2004
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright American Society of Photobiology Nov/Dec 2004. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
|
Received 25 June 2004; accepted 13 September 2004
ABSTRACT
St. John's Wort (SJW), an over-the-counter antidepressant, contains hypericin, which absorbs light in the UV and visible ranges and is photo toxic to skin. To determine if it also could be phototoxic to the eye, we exposed human lens epithelial cells to 0.1-10 µM hypericin and irradiated them with 4 J/cm^sup 2^ UV-A or 0.9 J/cm^sup 2^ visible light. Neither hypericin exposure alone nor light exposure alone reduced cell viability. In contrast, cells exposed to hypericin in combination with UV-A or visible light underwent necrosis and apoptosis. The ocular antioxidants lutein and N-acetyl cysteine did not prevent damage. Thus, ...