Figure 9.

This figure summarises the anatomical and physiological ageing changes in Bruch's membrane. (a) Histochemical staining of Bruch's membrane using Oil Red O on membranes from tissue derived from individuals 10, 47, and 75 years old, respectively. The study undertaken with Alan Bird and Daniel Pauleikhoff demonstrated that a progressive increase in lipid deposition in the membrane is functional age. The functional implications of changes in the tissue are demonstrated in (b) for both the macular and peripheral regions of the retina. On examining the transport of water through isolated membranes, hydraulic conductivity, an exponential decay in the ability of water to pass through the system was determined and the rate of loss of transport was faster in the macular than in the periphery. This work was conducted with Ali Hussein (c) using highly modified Ussing Chambers. (d) The apparently contradictory evidence of maximum loss of hydraulic transport occurring at a time of negligible deposition of lipids.