Studies on the alpha-glucosidase specific for collagen disaccharide units: variations associated with capillary basement membrane thickening in kidney and brain of diabetic and aged rats.

The alpha-glucosidase specific for the hydroxylysine-linked disaccharide units of collagens (or 2-0-alpha-D-glucopyranosyl-5-0-beta-D-galactopyranosylhydroxy-L-lysine glucohydrolase) has been measured in kidney cortex and brain cortical tissue of streptozotocin diabetic rats after 19, 23 or 28 weeks of diabetes and of aged rats 22 months old. Increased specific activities of the enzyme have been found repeatedly in the dialyzed homogenates and the 7.2 X 10(6) g.min supernatants of kidney and brain at the various stages of diabetes when compared with age-matched controls; the specific activities returned to a normal level after insulin treatment. Similar increased specific activities were observed in kidney and brain of the aged normoglycemic rats when compared with young adult rats. In diabetic kidney cortex, beta-galactosidase and p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucoside glucosidase specific activities were decreased in contrast to the increase of glucosyl-galactosyl-hydroxy-lysine glucohydrolase. In kidney cortex of the aged rats, beta-galactosidase activity was also decreased, but p-nitrophenyl-alpha-D-glucoside glucosidase was increased. In both diabetic and aged rats, thickening of the kidney glomerular basement membranes was confirmed; thickening of the brain cortical capillary basement membranes was also observed. Thus in the diabetic and aged animals, the increased glucosyl-galactosyl-hydroxylysine glucohydrolase specific activity was associated with basement membrane thickening in the kidney and the brain.