Abnormal amino acid analyses obtained from osteogenesis imperfecta dentin.

Amino acid analyses were carried out on dentin proteins obtained from 33 normal teeth and 59 teeth from osteogenesis imperfecta patients. The analyses revealed that in the control teeth approximately 95% of the insoluble dentin fraction was collagen. The majority of the analyses for teeth obtained from the O.I. patients were biochemically abnormal (55 out of 59). Specifically, there was a significant increase in the acidic amino acids, with a corresponding decrease in the basic amino acids. A small group of patients showed double peaks in the histidine, hydroxylysine, and lysine areas of the chromatograms. These results emphasize that despite the fact that the teeth of O.I. patients may appear to be clinically normal, all but four of the teeth examined had abnormal dentin collagen.