[Tissue-dependent metabolic behaviour of collagen--autoradiographic and immunhistochemical findings (author's...

After the intraperitoneal application of 3H-proline a higher grain density over the myocardium and the aorta in comparison with the cartilage, the glomeruli and the cutaneous connective tissue of rats was found. The maximal incorporation was established in the aorta at 6 h, in the skeletal muscle at 18 h after the injection of radioactive proline. Immunhistochemical findings reported in the literature and first results of our own indicate a special distribution pattern of the various collagen types in the organs under study. Seen in this connection the autoradiographic results may imply that type I and III collagen has a higher metabolic intensity than type II and IV collagen. Animals with renal hypertension of 3 weeks duration show an increase in the ratio of the extranuclear to the intranuclear grain density in the myocardium and the aorta after 3H-proline application.