Tsuneo Nakamichi

Acceleration of Fructose Mediated Collagen Glycation

The effect of fructose on the formation of advanced Maillard reaction products which show fluorescence and have crosslinking was investigated. Type I collagen was added to various concentrations of glucose and fructose which were then incubated at 37°C for 4 weeks. The level of furosine and the fluorescence intensity both increased in direct proportion to glucose and fructose levels and to the duration of incubation. Incubation with fructose produced less furosine but more intense fluorescence than incubation with glucose. Furthermore, collagen was significantly less soluble after incubation with fructose than after incubation with glucose. These results suggest that fructose in the polyol pathway plays an important role in the formation of advanced Maillard products.

Purification of α-ketoaldehyde dehydrogenase from the human liver and its possible significance in the control of glycation

Alfa-ketoaldehyde dehydrogenase, which was extracted and purified from human livers, may act on carbonyl compounds, such as 3-deoxyglucosone, and be involved in the control of glycation (Maillard reaction) in the body.

Fructose-related glycation

We investigated in vitro the effect of the polyol pathway on the formation of advanced Maillard reaction products which have fluorescence and cross-links. Bovine serum albumin supplemented with various concentrations of glucose, fructose or sorbitol was incubated for 14 days. The fluorescence intensity was higher after incubation with fructose than after incubation with glucose. However, no significant increase in fluorescence intensity was found after incubation with sorbitol. These results suggest that in the polyol pathway fructose plays an important role in the formation of advanced Maillard products.

Accelerated glycation of the aorta in diabetic rats.

Glycation of the aorta in rats with streptozotocin-induced diabetes was estimated by determining the early-stage product and the advanced product of the Maillard reaction. The early-stage product of the Maillard reaction was determined using furosine, which is derived from glycated lysine residues by acid hydrolysis. The advanced product was determined by fluorescence high-performance liquid chromatography. The levels of both early-stage and advanced products in diabetic rats were significantly higher than those in non-diabetic rats at the age of both 20 and 50 weeks. The levels of both early-stage and advanced products at 50 weeks in rats tended to be higher than those at 20 weeks. However, the level of glycated hemoglobin in both non-diabetic and diabetic rats showed no significant change between 20 and 50 weeks of age. These results suggest that tissue glycation may be involved in the development of diabetic complications and may be related to the aging mechanism.