Abstract
Collagen is a family of proteins which consists of several genetically distinct molecular species and is intimately involved in tissue organization, function, differentiation and development. The purpose of this study was to investigate the concentration of different hydroxyproline (Hyp) fractions viz., total, free, peptide-bound, protein-bound, soluble- and insoluble-collagen hydroxyproline (Hyp) in various bovine tissues. Results showed that liver had the highest concentration of free Hyp followed by kidney, brain, spleen, lungs, muscle and heart. Liver also had the highest concentration of peptide-bound collagen Hyp followed by kidney, heart, spleen, lungs, brain and muscle. The concentration of protein-bound collagen Hyp was highest in the liver, followed by kidney, spleen, lungs, muscle, brain and heart. Total Hyp was highest in the liver, followed by kidney, spleen, brain, heart, muscle and lungs. Liver also had significantly high concentration of collagen as compared to other tissues examined (P<0.001). Spleen had the significantly higher concentration of soluble-collagen Hyp when compared to other tissues (P<0.001). This was followed by heart, muscle, lungs, brain, kidney and liver. Heart had the highest concentration of insoluble-collagen Hyp followed by lungs, kidney, liver, muscle, spleen and brain. The variation among the insoluble-collagen Hyp concentration of heart and muscle, spleen and brain was significant (P<0.001). We speculate that these differences could be due to the variation in turn over of rate of collagen metabolism in this species.