The rate of synthesis and breakdown of glomerular basement membrane material at the transition 'normal to diabetes' and 'diabetes to normal'.
A considerable enlargement of the renal glomeruli is present very early after the acute onset of juvenile diabetes mellitus. In the hypertrophied glomeruli the surface area of the capillary walls, the filtration surface, is increased, and thereby also the amount of basement membrane in the capillary wall. The rate of development of this type of diabetic basement membrane accumulation has been studied in streptozotocin diabetic rats with 4- and 47-day duration of diabetes. During the first 4 days a 40% increase in the total amount of peripheral basement membrane material occurs, whereas the following period up to 47 days shows no further change. The structural changes of the glomerular capillaries seen in conjunction with the basement membrane accumulation comprise an enlargement of the filtration surface and capillary luminal volume. In another experiment, 4-week diabetic animals were transplanted with pancreatic islets. The renal structures were studied quantitatively after 4 weeks of normalization. It was found that the increased amounts of basement membrane material were still present.
D000818:Animals; D001485:Basement Membrane / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D002196:Capillaries / Q000473:pathology; D003921:Diabetes Mellitus, Experimental / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006984:Hypertrophy; D007678:Kidney Glomerulus / Q000098:blood supply / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D051381:Rats; D011919:Rats, Inbred Strains; D013997:Time Factors