Korean J Ophthalmol.  1994 Jun;8(1):26-31. 10.3341/kjo.1994.8.1.26.

Increased glycosylation of human lens epithelial basement membrane in diabetes mellitus

• Shin DH
• Mandel SS
• Lee JH
• Ernst B
• Newman BL
• Juzych M

• KMID: 1735118
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.1994.8.1.26

Abstract

We studied the nonenzymatic glycosylation of lens epithelial basement membranes (LEBM) of senile cataractous lenses of both diabetic and nondiabetic patients. The human LEBMs were isolated from surgically removed senile cataracts and purified by osmotic lysis and detergent treatments. Glycosylation assay of LEBMs was done using the colorimetric method of Fluckiger and Winterhalter. The glycosylation value ranged from 16.39 to 92.56 n mol/mg protein overall, with a mean of 63.54 +/- 24.56 n mol/mg protein for the diabetic specimens and a mean of 29.97 +/- 14.48 n mol/mg protein for the nondiabetic controls (P = 0.009). The study confirms our previous observation of in vivo glycosylation of the LEBM and further establishes that diabetic patients have a twofold increase in the amount of LEBM glycosylation when compared to their nondiabetic counterparts.

Keyword

lens; basement membrane; in vivo glycosylation; diabetes mellitus; cataract

MeSH Terms

Aged
Basement Membrane/metabolism
Cataract/metabolism
Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2/*metabolism
Epithelium/metabolism
Female
Glucose/metabolism
Glycosylation
Humans
Lens, Crystalline/*metabolism
Male
Glucose