Hyaluronic acid synovial

The other major component of an articular joint is synovial fluid, named by Paracelsus after synovia (egg-white). It is essentially a dialysate of blood plasma with added hyaluronic acid. Synovial fluid contains complex proteins, polysaccharides, and other compounds. Its chief constituent is water (approximately 85%). Synovial fluid functions as a joint lubricant, nutrient for cartilage, and carrier for waste products. 

Fingerprinting the Hyaluronic Acid Component of Normal and Pathological Synovial Fluids, S. A. Barker, S. H. I. Bayyuk, J. S. Brimacombe, C. F. Hawkins, and M. Stacey, Clin. Chim. Acta, 8 (1963) 902-909. 

Hyaluronic acid consists of an unbranched chain of repeating disaccharide units containing GlcUA and GlcNAc. Hyaluronic acid is present in bacteria and is widely distributed among various animals and tissues, including synovial fluid, the vitreous body of the eye, cartilage, and loose connective tissues. 

Kofoed, J.A. and Barcelo, A.C. (1978). The synovial fluid hyaluronic acid in rheumatoid arthritis. Experimentia 34, 1545. 

Hyaluronic acid (from vitreous humor, umbilical cord, synovial fluid, ovarian tumor, Group A hemolytic streptococcus and skin)... 

High-molecular-weight hyaluronic acid is a constituent of normal cartilage that provides lubrication with motion and shock absorbency during rapid movements. Because the concentration and molecular size of endogenous hyaluronic acid decrease in OA, exogenous administration has been studied in an attempt to reconstitute synovial fluid and reduce symptoms. 

Hyaluronic acid injections temporarily and modestly increase synovial fluid viscosity and were reported to decrease pain, but many studies were short term and poorly controlled with high placebo response rates. 

More complex polysaccharides play important roles in connective tissues and elsewhere. For example, hyaluronic acid is universally present in connective tissues of animals, as well as in their vitreous and synovial fluids. It helps to provide the fluids present in joints with shock-absorbing and lubricating properties. Unlike cellulose, chitin, starch, and glycogen, hyaluronic acid contains two different monomers glucose and N-acetylglucosamine alternate in the structure. Thus, hyaluronic acid is a regular alternating copolymer ABABABA —... 

The same authors130 used gel chromatography on agarose for isolating the undegraded hyaluronic acid-protein complex from human synovial fluid. 

M phosphate buffer (pH 7.3) in 0.2 M sodium chloride determination of average molecular size of hyaluronic acid from synovial fluid 131... 

Preston, B.N., Davies, M., Ogston, A.G. (1965). The composition and physicochemical properties of hyaluronic acids prepared from ox synovial fluid and from a case of mesothelioma. Biochemical Journal, 96, 449 171. 

Kutsch, H., and Schleich, C. (1989). Improved colorimetric determination of high-molecular weight hyaluronic acid from synovial fluids. Fresenius J. Anal. Chem. 333, 810-817. 

Hyaluronan was identified by Karl Meyer11 in 1938 as a hexuronic acid-containing material that also provided the turgor for the vitreous of the eye. The name hyaluronic acid was proposed from the Greek hyalos (glassy, vitreous) and uronic acid. It required 20 years however before the chemical structure of HA was established.12 It was later found to be a present in virtually every vertebrate tissue, the highest concentrations occurring in the vitreous of the eye, in the synovial fluid in the joint capsule, and in the umbilical cord as Wharton s jelly. However, over 50% of total body HA is present in skin.13... 

From the known chemical properties of superoxide free radicals and hydrogen peroxide, it is unlikely that these two species will react directly with the range of biomolecules found in synovial fluid. It is more likely, particularly for superoxide radicals, that they will instead participate in redox reactions with complexes of metal ions such as iron and copper, although reaction with phenolic compounds cannot be excluded. It has been proposed therefore that synovial fluid, in particular hyaluronic acid, can be degraded in vivo through an iron-catalysed Haber-Weiss reaction. 

The evidence for hyaluronic-acid degradation in rheumatoid synovial fluid comes from observations of loss of viscosity and decrease in molecular weight... 

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