Abstract
The Maillard reaction, a nonenzymatic glycosylation is nonspecific binding reaction of sugar to protein. The extent of this glycosylation was estimated by determining furosine, which is a hydrolysate of fructose-lysine. Nonenzymatic glycosylation of the rat aorta increased with advancing age in the range of up to 50 weeks. Nonenzymatic glycosylation level of aorta in streptozotocininduced diabetic rats also increased with advancing age in the range of up to 50 weeks. No significant difference was found in hemoglobin A1 levels among rats at different weeks of age, except rats at 4 weeks of age. However, nonenzymatic glycosylation level in diabetic rats was significantly higher than that found in normal rats at the same weeks of age. It is considered that the Maillard products can be regarded as a sort of cross-linking compounds between protein and sugar. Furthermore, the Maillard reaction proceeds slowly over a long period of time. Therefore, these results suggested that nonenzymatic glycosylation of artery may become an accelerating mechanism of arteriosclerosis in diabetic patients.
