| Abstract: | An increase in the activity of lysosomal enzymes in varicose veins has been suggested in the literature, as well as an alteration of collagen fibrils situated near muscle cells. In view of these results, we have compared the free amino acid contents of varicose veins with those of healthy veins removed few hours after death. The amino acid analyses of extracts have shown that the varicose vein appears to contain about 2.7 times more free amino acids than normal one, except in the case of phosphoethanolamine. Controls have shown that this discrepancy can be ascribed to a rapid liakage of the amino acids after death. The absence of hydroxyproline suggests that collagen does not seem liable to degradation in the varicose vein. On the other hand, the constant phosphoethanolamine content found can be attributed to a much higher concentration of this compound in the varicose vein or alternatively, to a postmortem process of degradation, compensating for the losses due to diffusion. |
