title: Catabolism of hyaluronan in the knee joint of the rabbit.
abstract: Catabolism of hyaluronan was studied by injecting hyaluronan labelled with [125I]-tyramine cellobiose ([125I]-TC) into knee joints of rabbits. After endocytosis [125I]-TC remains intracellularly allowing localization of the site of catabolism. At 6 hours after injection 63% could be recovered in and around the joint, while at 48 hours 32% remained locally. Chromatography showed that 12% of the injected tracer was degraded in joint tissues at 6 hours, increasing to 33% at 24 hours. There was no apparent degradation within the joint fluid. No tracer was found in the regional lymph glands, but 16% of the injected tracer was detected in the liver at 24 hours. This investigation demonstrates that hyaluronan in the joint can be degraded both locally and in the liver.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical and Physiological Chemistry, University of Uppsala, Sweden.
authors.forename: U B
authors.initials: UB
authors.lastname: Laurent
authors.forename: J R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Fraser
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Engström-Laurent
authors.forename: R K
authors.initials: RK
authors.lastname: Reed
authors.forename: L B
authors.initials: LB
authors.lastname: Dahl
authors.forename: T C
authors.initials: TC
authors.lastname: Laurent
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001692:Biological Transport; D004705:Endocytosis; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000493:pharmacokinetics; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000378:metabolism*; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D011817:Rabbits; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D006820:Hyaluronic Acid