Glycosaminoglycans nomenclature

Problems of microheterogeneity, to be discussed farther on, complicate the nomenclature of glycosaminoglycans. It is difficult, for example, to establish a clear borderline between N-sulfated heparan sulfates and the most heterogeneous heparin species. As indicated in Table I, the nomenclature of glycosaminoglycans has experienced some changes over the years. (For a discussion, see Ref. 10.) Such atypical heparins as (U-heparin (a whale heparin) and /-heparin (N-desulfated heparin) are now preferably defined in terms of their animal origin, or their chemically modified groups. 

The last review of mucopolysaccharides appeared in Advances in Clinical Chemistry in 1964. Since then, the various aspects of this field have been greatly developed, and Kennedy now presents a substantial and most comprehensive review of the chemical and biochemical aspects of glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans, a nomenclature which he considers superior to the older terms. Of particular interest is his very extensive account of the roles of these compounds in health and disease. 

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