ABSTRACT
The neural retina is the first stage in the nervous system's visual processing of the image focused on the retina, which is an extension of the brain. Vitamin E is a lipid-soluble antioxidant, part of the antioxidant defenses of each cell, and functions as part of a team of antioxidants each cell must deploy to scavenge potentially damaging oxidative species: superoxide, hydrogen peroxide, singlet oxygen, hydroxyl radical, hypochlorite, and lipid peroxidase and peroxy free radicals, which form parts of the "oxygen cascade". This chapter describes roles that have been indicated or suggested for vitamin E in various conditions affecting the different regions of the eye. The levels of tocopherol fall from retinal tissue to lens and cornea, and in the ocular fluids, the vitreous contains more than the aqueous. Phe-nothiazines such as chlorpromazine are widely used for treatment of psychiatric disorders, and can result in ocular lesions in treated patients who are exposed to sunlight.
