Zonal differences of alpha-glucosidases in human kidney: studies in controls and in patients with glycogenosis type II.

In the kidneys of two infants who died from glycogenosis type II (deficiency of lysosomal acid alpha-glucosidase) the activity of alpha-glucosidase at acid pH was absent only from the medulla but not the cortex. This prompted an investigation of acid and neutral alpha-glucosidases of the two zones of normal human kidney and of liver. In the kidney medulla, a single, fast migrating electrophoretic band was active at neutral but not at acid pH. In the cortex, three additional bands were detected at neutral pH and two in the liver. One slowly migrating band was unique to the cortex and active over a broad pH range. It had comparatively high sensitivity to the inhibitor turanose and high heat stability. Its properties suggested a close relationship or identity to glucoamylase of the intestinal brush border membrane and to alpha-glucosidase in leukocytes and amniotic fluid and cells.