Effect of age and diabetes on type IV collagen and laminin in human kidney cortex

Specific radioimmunoassays for the 7-S domain of type IV collagen and the fragment P1 of laminin were used to quantify these basement membrane proteins in human kidney cortex at different ages and in some patients with diabetes mellitus. The antigens were solubilized by treating the tissue samples with the proteolytic enzymes collagenase, trypsin and pepsin. Total collagen content (as indicated by hydroxyproline concentration) increased with age, and the proportion of the collagen that could be solubilized by any enzyme treatment decreased. The type IV collagen concentration increased significantly with age, whereas the laminin concentration tended to decrease. In the one case of a type I diabetic the amounts of both antigens exceeded those in the age matched controls. In four type II diabetics the results were comparable with those for other aged cases. The distribution of the proteins was studied using the peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. The staining intensity and thickness of both antigens increased with age in the mesangium and Bowmans capsules, the change in type IV collagen staining being more evident. In diabetic patients these changes were more pronounced and other basement membranes appeared thicker in the stainings. These results indicate that basement membrane material accumulates in the kidney cortex during aging and that an alteration takes place in the composition of the basement membranes, the proportion of type IV collagen increasing and that of laminin decreasing.