BACKGROUND Interstital cystitis is often treated with exogenous glycosaminoglycans such as heparin, chondroitin sulphate (Uracyst), hyaluronate (Cystistat) or the semi-synthetic pentosan polysulphate (Elmiron). The mechanism of action is presumed to be due to a coating of the bladder surface to replace the normally present chondroitin sulphate and heparan sulphate lost as a result of the diseas...

Purified m beta-acrosin catalysed amidolysis of several p-nitroanilides with C-terminal arginine residues. Antithrombin III inhibited amidolysis catalysed by the enzyme. This effect of antithrombin III was potentiated by heparin, and to a modest extent by heparan sulphate, cellulose sulphate, dextran sulphate and xylan sulphate. De-N-sulphated heparin, de-N-sulphated N-acetylated heparin, hepar...

1. Developing tail tendons from rats (19-day foetal to 126 days post partum) were examined by electron microscopy after staining for proteoglycan with a cationic copper phthalocyanin dye. Cuprolinic Blue, in a "critical electrolyte concentration" method. Hydroxyproline was measured on papain digests of tendons, from which glycosaminoglycuronans were isolated, characterized and quantified. 2. Me...

The hydrodynamic frictional resistance to water flow exerted by articular cartilage proteoglycan is shown to be similar to that of proteoglycan isolated from Swarm rat chondrosarcoma, and independent of the state of aggregation of the proteoglycan. Frictional resistance is dependent, however, on the chain segments of the constituent chondroitin-sulphate and keratan-sulphate chains of the proteo...

Proteoglycans of 300 000 mol.wt. were isolated from dispersed rat basophil tumour cells after labelling of the sulphated mucopolysaccharides with 35S in vitro:90% of the 35S-labelled mucopolysaccharides were extracted at high salt concentration. Alkali degradation of the 35S-labelled proteoglycans yielded glycosaminoglycan chains of 40 000 mol.wt. The composition of the salt-extracted 35S-label...

Previous studies have indicated that CD44 isoforms, spliced with variant exons, are heterogeneously glycanated with chondroitin sulphate and heparan sulphate chains. Because such alternative splicing may regulate divergent biological effects of the specific isoforms, we analysed the consequences of this process on the composition and structure of the chondroitin-sulphate chains. Recombinant chi...

The electrostatic interaction of chondroitin sulphate and the chondroitin sulphate-proteoglycan with collagen was studied by chromatography of the glycosaminoglycan and the proteoglycan on a collagen gel. The observed binding between the macromolecules increased with decreasing pH and ionic strength, and was significant under physiological conditions. A study of the interaction between chondroi...

OBJECTIVES Chondroitin sulphate is the major sulphated glycosaminoglycan present in the extracellular matrix of soft connective tissues and the aim of this study was to investigate the distribution of chondroitin sulphate species in normal and diseased synovium. METHODS Distribution of chondroitin-4-sulphate/dermatan sulphate (Ch4S/DS) and chondroitin-6-sulphate in normal (n = 6), osteoarthri...

Persistent effects of a short course of intra-articular dextran sulphate, dextrans, or chondroitin sulphate were examined in rabbit knees. Only dextran sulphate produced gross arthritis, associated with high synovial acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase activities. Synovial degradative capacity in synovium-cartilage cocultures was increased 2-fold by dextran sulphate and 1.5-fold by chondroi...

preformulation studies on transdermal dosage forms involve liberal use of animal skin for assessing the permeation characteristics of drugs, influence of permeation enhancers, optimizing the formulation variables etc. the restricted availability of animal skin due to concerns regarding prevention of cruelty to animals has generated considerable interest in developing polymeric films for use as ...