title: Elimination of tritium-labelled hyaluronic acid from normal and osteoarthritic rabbit knee joints.
abstract: The half-life of [3H]hyaluronic acid in rabbit knee joints was estimated using two methods: (i) by following the [3H]hyaluronan content of the synovial fluid after intra-articular injection and (ii) by following the 3H2O radioactivity of plasma after intra-articular injection of [3H]hyaluronan. For normal rabbits we obtained a half-life of 15.8 hours (method I) and 17.5 +/- 1.0 hours (mean +/- SEM, method II), respectively. The second method was used to estimate the kinetics of the hyaluronan elimination from normal, sham-operated, as well as from osteoarthritic rabbit knee joints (Colombo model of osteoarthritis). Four weeks after injury, during the developing phase of osteoarthritis, the half-life of hyaluronan rose significantly to 23.5 +/- 2.1 hours and returned to normal levels (17.4 +/- 2.7 hours) 12 weeks after the operation (osteoarthritis developed). At the stage of developed osteoarthritis, the clearance rates were considerably higher than in normal rabbits.
authors.affiliation: Forschungsabteilung der Orthopädischen Klinik, Universitätsklinikum Charité, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lindenhayn
authors.forename: H H
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Heilmann
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Niederhausen
authors.forename: H U
authors.initials: HU
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pohlenz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002850:Chromatography, Gel; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000378:metabolism / Q000493:pharmacokinetics*; D007270:Injections, Intra-Articular; D007700:Kinetics; D007719:Knee Joint / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D011897:Random Allocation; D013582:Synovial Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D014316:Tritium / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D014867:Water / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014867:Water; D014316:Tritium; C033961:tritium oxide; D006820:Hyaluronic Acid