To examine the question of whether hyperglycemia per se can affect basement membrane synthesis, intact rat lenses, which produce basement membrane in vitro, were incubated for 24 h with radioactive proline or lysine and varying concentrations of glucose. Lens capsule basement membrane (LCBM) was subsequently purified and analyzed for radiolabel incorporation and for specific activities of proline, hydroxyproline, lysine, and hydroxylysine. [14C]-proline and lysine incorporation into LCBM was increasingly stimulated in incubations performed with 10 and 20 mM compared with 5 mM glucose. High glucose concentration increased the specific activity of proline and lysine but not hydroxyproline or hydroxylysine, and decreased the ratio of radioactive hydroxyproline to proline. Gel electrophoresis of radiolabeled LCBM prepared after high glucose incubation revealed increased radioactivity in serveral high-molecular-weight components corresponding with the major Coomassie-blue peptide bands. The results indicate that glucose stimulates LCBM synthesis, and suggest that this effect derives from increased production of noncollagenous components.