Osmotic Effects of Sorbitol Accumulation in Monkey Kidney Epithelial Cell Cultures

Abstract

It has been observed that primary monolayer cell cultures derived from monkey kidney cortex behave in a similar manner to the mammalian lens in that they accumulate high concentrations of sorbitol when they are incubated in medium containing a high glucose concentration (33 mM). An investigation was undertaken to determine whether the accumulation of sorbitol by these cultures results in cellular damage by an osmotic mechanism similar to that which has been proposed to occur in the lens.