Age-related changes in enzyme activities, protein content and lipid composition of rat kidney brush-border membrane.

Age-related changes in enzyme activities, protein electrophoretic patterns and lipid composition of kidney-brush-border membranes were studied in 10-20- and 30-month-old male and female Wistar rats. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of membrane proteins revealed very little changes with increasing age, whether males or females were considered. The Km of three hydrolases - maltase, L-aminopeptidase and alkaline phosphatase - were not affected by age while the Vmax of maltase and alkaline phosphatase, but not of L-aminopeptidase, decreased from 10 to 30 months. The phospholipid to protein ratio which remained constant between 10 and 20 months, rose in both sexes from 20 to 30 months. In males, the cholesterol content of the membrane increased faster than that of phospholipid and the cholesterol over phospholipid ratio was then greater at 30 months than at 10 months, while in females this ratio remained unchanged in the course of aging. The fatty acid composition of the brush-border remained more or less constant with age in female rat whereas in the male, a 10% decrease in the proportion of arachidonic acid from 10 to 30 months was responsible for a lower unsaturation index.