Oxidative mechanisms during nuclear sclerosis of the lens are poorly understood, in
particular metal-catalyzed oxidation. The lysyl oxidation product adipic semialdehyde
(allysine, ALL) and its oxidized end-product 2-aminoadipic acid (2-AAA) were determined as
a function of age and presence of diabetes. Surprisingly, whereas both ALL and 2-AAA
increased with age and strongly correlated with cataract grade and protein absorbance at
350 nm, only ALL formation but not 2-AAA was increased by diabetes. To clarify the …