HEPATIC ADVANCED GLYCATION ENDPRODUCT BINDING IS INCREASED IN EXPERIMENTAL DIABETES

Advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) have been implicated in the path ogenesis of diabetic complications. However, clearance pathways for th ese products have not been fully delineated. This study investigates c hanges in AGE binding in the liver in association with experimental di abetes using in vitro and in vivo radioautography techniques. Male Spr ague-Dawley rats were randomised into control and diabetic rats and sa crificed after 3 weeks. Frozen Liver sections (20 mu m) were incubated with I-125-AGE-BSA. To further localise the AGE binding site, in vivo radioautography was performed by injection of 15 mu Ci of I-125-AGE-B SA into the abdominal aorta of the rat. Specific binding sites for AGE s were detected in the liver by in vitro radioautography. There was a significant increase in I-125-AGE binding in the liver of diabetic rat s. Emulsion radioautography revealed that binding was localised primar ily in Kupffer and liver endothelial cells. AGE binding sites were inc reased in the liver after 3 weeks of experimental diabetes. It remains speculative as to whether these binding sites represent AGE clearance receptors.