Oxygen, various chemical substances and ultraviolet rays exert a direct action on the eye and can cause the formation of free radicals in the eye. Therefore the antioxidant content of the eye is high. In vitreous fluid and the vitreous body it is in particular ascorbic acid, the lens contains a considerable am ount of reduced glutathione; the activity of antioxidant enzymes in different structures of the eye is also high. The most frequent and most serious eye diseases involving of free radicals are in particular cataract, retinopathies of different origin and macular degeneration. The authors describe in the submitted review the possible mechanism of the development of these diseases with regard to metabolic processes generating free radicals and the part played by antioxidants in the protection of the eye and prevention of its damage by free radicals.

        Key words: free radicals, antioxidants, cataract, retinopathy, macular degeneratio n.