International Journal of Health Sciences & Research (www.ijhsr.org) 241 Vol.9; Issue: 2; February 2019 International Journal of Health Sciences and Research www.ijhsr.org ISSN: 2249-9571 Review Article Role of Lipid Peroxidation in Diabetic and Senile Cataract - A Review G. Swathy 1 , Suhas Prabhakar 2 , C. Umamaheswara Reddy 3 , C. K. Dhanapal 4 1 Research Scholar, Dept of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, India 2 Prof & Head, Department of Ophthalmology, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, India 3 Prof & Head, Dept of Pharmacology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education & Research, Chennai, India 4 Associate Professor, Department of Pharmacy, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar- 608002 Corresponding Author: Suhas Prabhakar ABSTRACT The association of lipids in cataract has been discussed for about two centuries and lipid peroxidation is identified as the inceptive stage, causing lipid-lipid and lipid-protein interactions which lead to lens opacity causing cataract. Reactive oxygen species play a significant role in lipid oxidation and forms byproducts by reacting with lipids. Worldwide blindness due to cataract is increasing steadily and diabetes patients are more prone when compared to non-diabetic patients. With the advancement in surgical procedures, there exist postoperative and intraoperative complications with higher risk in ocular co-morbid conditions, thus identifying the exact pathomechanism can pave the way for alternative treatment. This review focuses on lipid peroxidation products that play an essential part in opacification of the lens. The present study gives an insight of lipids in the cataract of diabetic and non-diabetic patients concerning the presence of their byproducts in plasma, lens tissue and aqueous humor. Keywords: Senile cataract, diabetes mellitus, lipid peroxidation INTRODUCTION Clouding of lens or lens opacity which leads to a poor visual outcome is termed as cataract. Of the 37 million blind people in the world, cataract stands as a leading cause. [1] According to the results of leading national surveys, cataract in India is expected to reach about 8.25 million in 2020. The possibility of WHO initiative “Vision 2020: The right to sight” may not be attained, due to the increased current prevalence with the person’s age above 60, projected incidence rate and poor visual outcome after surgery. [2] Cataract affects the visual power of an eye, and so working and living of a person with cataract condition is hampered. Cataract is the primary cause of blindness worldwide and, accounting for 50% of blindness overall. [1] Surgical extraction of the cataractous lens remains the only treatment despite some post-surgical complications. The surgical rate in developed countries has been increased above the WHO estimated range from 3000 per million people per year to 7000 – 11000 per million people. [3-6] Researchers are thus aiming for an alternative treatment which might be prevented or delay the onset and progression of cataract by ten years, which can reduce the surgery rate to more than 45%, henceforth reducing the worldwide