Intrinsic Viscosity of Hyaluronic Acid Synthesized in Tissue Culture in the Presence of Normal and Rheumatoid Arthritic Serum Respectively

Summary

The intrinsic viscosity of hyaluronic acid synthesized in tissue cultures of synovial membranes of the human knee joint was studied. Tissue material from cases of rheumatoid arthritis as well as from «non-rheumatic» cases was cultivated. The main principle was to cultivate the same tissue material in the presence of normal serum and in the presence of rheumatoid arthritic serum. Then the intrinsic viscosity of the supernatants was determined each week during 3 weeks of cultivation. The results indicate that the presence of rheumatoid arthritic serum did not appreciably influence the intrinsic viscosity of the hyaluronic acid synthesized by the tissue cultures studied. Possibly early selection of the cells is to be taken into consideration.