Effect of glycation of albumin on its renal clearance in normal and diabetic rats.

Two independent techniques have been used to study the renal clearances of nonenzymatically glycated albumin and nonglycated albumin in normal and streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats, 16 to 24 weeks after the onset of diabetes. In the first technique, serum and urinary endogenous glycated and nonglycated albumin were separated using m-aminophenylboronate affinity chromatography and subsequently quantified by radioimmunoassay. Endogenous glycated albumin was cleared approximately twofold faster than nonglycated albumin in normal and diabetic rats. However, no difference was observed in the glycated albumin/nonglycated albumin clearance ratios (Cga/Calb) in normal and diabetic rats, respectively (2.18 +/- 0.39 vs 1.83 +/- 0.22, P greater than 0.05). The second technique measured the renal clearance of injected 125I-labelled glycated albumin and 125I-labelled albumin. The endogenous results were supported by the finding that 125I-labelled glycated albumin was cleared more rapidly than 125I-labelled albumin in normal (P less than 0.01) and diabetic (P less than 0.05) rats. The Cga/Calb ratio calculated for the radiolabelled albumins was 1.4 and 2.0 in normal and diabetic rats, respectively. This evidence suggests that nonenzymatic glycation of albumin increases its renal clearance to a similar degree in normal and diabetic rats.