Dicarbonyl compounds such as glyoxal and methylglyoxal are reactive dicarbonyl intermediates in the nonenzymatic browning and cross-linking of proteins during the Maillard reaction. We describe here the quantification of glyoxal and methylglyoxal-derived imidazolium cross-links in tissue proteins. The imidazolium salt cross-links, glyoxal-lysine dimer (GOLD) and methylglyoxal-lysine dimer (MOLD), were measured by liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry and were present in lens protein at concentrations of 0.02-0.2 and 0.1-0.8 mmol/mol of lysine, respectively. The lens concentrations of GOLD and MOLD correlated significantly with one another and also increased with lens age. GOLD and MOLD were present at significantly higher concentrations than the fluorescent cross-links pentosidine and dityrosine, identifying them as major Maillard reaction cross-links in lens proteins. Like the N-carboxy-alkyllysines N ⑀ -(carboxymethyl)lysine and N ⑀ -(carboxyethyl)lysine, these cross-links were also detected at lower concentrations in human skin collagen and increased with age in collagen. The presence of GOLD and MOLD in tissue proteins implicates methylglyoxal and glyoxal, either free or protein-bound, as important precursors of protein cross-links formed during Maillard reactions in vivo during aging and in disease.The Maillard reaction is a complex series of reactions between reducing sugars and amino groups on proteins, which lead to browning, fluorescence, and cross-linking of protein (1, 2). Advanced glycation end products, formed during later stages of the Maillard reaction, accumulate in long lived tissue proteins, such as tissue collagens and lens crystallins, and may contribute to the development of complications in aging, diabetes, and atherosclerosis (3, 4). Glyoxal (GO), 1 methylglyoxal (MGO), and deoxyglucosones belong to a series of dicarbonyl compounds, identified as intermediates in the Maillard reaction. GO is formed on autoxidation of glucose under physiological conditions (5) and also as a product of lipid peroxidation (6). MGO is formed nonenzymatically by spontaneous decomposition of triose phosphate intermediates in glycolysis (7) and by amine-catalyzed sugar fragmentation reactions (8, 9). It is also a product of metabolism of acetone (10) and threonine (11). Both GO and MGO are detoxified by the glutathione-dependent glyoxalase pathway, yielding hydroxyacetic acid and D-lactate, respectively (12-14). MGO can also be detoxified by the NADPHdependent enzyme aldose reductase, yielding 1,2-propanediol (15). The concentration of MGO is elevated in the blood of diabetic patients in vivo (16,17), and the metabolites of MGO detoxification, acetol and 1,2-propanediol, are also increased in blood during diabetic ketoacidosis (10).GO and MGO are reactive toward amino, guanidino, and sulfhydryl functional groups in protein (18,19), leading to browning, denaturation, and cross-linking of proteins. Besides unidentified brown and fluorescent products, the reaction of GO and MGO with lysine and arginine residues in...