Studies on amino acid composition of renal glomeruli from the diabetics

Amino acid analysis was carried out on the acid hydrolyzate of the glomeruli isolated from the kidneys of 19 nondiabetic and 21 diabetic autopsy subjects. The glomeruli isolated from the diabetics were found to have a significant increase in their contents of amino acids such as hydroxyproline, glycine and hydroxylysine, when compared with nondiabetic controls. These changes were detected already in the diabetic cases with no apparent histological change, and were prominent in the glomeruli which had nodular lesion. A linear relationship was evident between the contents of hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine in the glomeruli isolated from all 40 subjects studied (y = 9.50 + 4.88x, r = 0.918, p less than 0.001). The values for the diabetic glomeruli showing diffuse lesion and nodular lesion scattered continuously along the same line. These results suggest that chemical character is almost same in the diabetic glomeruli with either diffuse lesion or nodular lesion.