Fluorescence emission and excitation spectra of fluorophores of lipofuscin granules isolated from retinal pigment epithelium of human cadaver eyes

Visible light-induced changes in fluorescence characteristics of lipofuscin granules (LG) isolated from retinal pigment epithelium of human cadaver eyes are compared with the analogous age-related changes and correlated with the content and photooxidation of LG main fluorophore, A2E. We used HPLC to examine changes of LG fluorophore composition with donor age, as well as before and after visible-light irradiation (the latter HPLC tests were also done with synthetic A2E). Visible light induces oxidation of LG fluorophores. As a result, their fluorescence characteristics change: the emission spectrum is blue-shifted by 25–40 nm. The observed age-dependent changes in the relative content of LG fluorophores and their oxidized derivatives were qualitatively similar with those caused by irradiation. To improve the accuracy of a new noninvasive diagnostic method, fundus autofluorescence imaging, it is important to know the ratio of nonoxidized and oxidized fluorophore derivatives depending on age and eye pathology.