Hyaluronan Division Glossary
The Language of Hyaluronan
This glossary is provided to help scientists, researchers and medical professionals interested in utilizing Lifecore's Hyaluronan products or developing new applications and products for raw Hyaluronan.
Bacterial fermentation – The process Lifecore uses to make hyaluronan.
Dalton (Da.) – The Dalton is a unit of mass. It designates 1/16th of the mass of oxygen -16, the lightest and most abundant isotope of oxygen. Since this is 15.9949, the Dalton is equivalent to 0.9997 mass unit.1
Dynamic viscosity – is the tangential force per unit area required to move one horizontal plane with respect to the other at unit velocity when maintained a unit distance apart by the fluid. Dynamic viscosity is often expressed in the metric CGS (centimeter-gram-second) system as g/cm.s, or poise (p). 2
Elasticity – The ability of a material to recover its original shape partially or completely after the deforming force has been removed.
Hyaluronan 0- Also known as hyaluronic acid or sodium hyaluronate, hyaluronan is a linear (unbranched) polysaccharide or non-sulfated glycosaminoglycan, composed of repeating disaccharide unit of N-acetyl glucosamine and glucuronate linked by β 1-3 and β 1-4 glycosidic bonds and counter ions. It is distributed widely throughout connective, epithelial and neural tissues as part of the extra-cellular matrix. There are high concentrations in the vitreous and aqueous humor of the eye, synovial fluid, skin, and the umbilical cord (Wharton jelly). The average 70-kg man has roughly 15 grams of hyaluronan in his body, one-third of which is turned over (degraded and synthesized) every day. It is an evolutionarily conserved molecule being found in both the group A and C Streptococci and Pasteurella multocida as well as birds and other orders of animals. In solutions of moderate to high molecular weight (500,000 to >3 million Da.) at low concentrations it imparts considerable viscosity to aqueous solutions.
Hyaluronic Acid (HA) – See hyaluronan. Its solutions are highly viscous.
Hyaluronidase – Hyaluronidase is a family of enzymes that degrade hyaluronan. The enzyme is found in most animal species and many micro-organisms. There are a number of different types of hyaluronidase with different specificity and kinetics.
Oligosaccharide – a carbohydrate containing from two up to ten simple sugars linked together (e.g., sucrose, composed of dextrose and fructose). Beyond ten they are called polysaccharides.1
Polysaccharide – a combination of nine or more monosaccharides, linked together by glycosidic bonds.1
Sodium hyaluronate (NaHy) –The sodium salt form of hyaluronan is called sodium hyaluronate.
Sterile – Sterile means the absence of living organisms or viruses.
Viscosity – The internal resistance to flow exhibited by a fluid; the ratio of shearing stress to rate of shear. A liquid has a viscosity of one poise if a force of one dyne per square centimeter causes two parallel liquid surfaces one square centimeter in area and one centimeter apart to move past one another at a velocity of one centimeter per second. One poise equals 100 centipoises (cp). Viscosity is centipoises divided by the liquid density at the same temperature gives kinematic viscosity in centistrokes (cs). One hundred centistokes equal 1 stoke. To determine kinematic viscosity, the time is measured for an exact quantity of liquid to flow by gravity through a standard capillary.
Water is the primary viscosity standard with an accepted viscosity at 20°C of 0.01002 poise. Hydrocarbon liquids such as hexane are less viscous. Molasses may have a viscosity of several hundred centistokes, while for a very heavy lubrication oil the viscosity may be 100 centistokes. There are many empirical methods for measuring viscosity which generally involve measurement of the time of flow or movement of a ball, ring or other object in a specifically shaped or sized apparatus.1 Lifecore measures the viscosity of hyaluronan solutions using Brookfield cone and plate viscometers at 20°C, with a variety of rotational speeds depending upon the instrument and viscosity.
Viscosupplemention– Viscosupplementation is a name given to the medical procedure of injecting hyaluronan based solutions into the synovial joint space of patients with osteoarthritis.
Now that you know the language of Hyaluronan, please follow the links to:
0 Balazs, E.A.; T.C. Laurent; R.W. Jeanloz, "Nomenclature of Hyaluronic Acid", Biochemical Journal Letters, 1986, Vol. 235, pp 903.
1 The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, 10th Edition, 1981. Revised by G.G. Hawley. Von Nostrand Reinhold Company
2 source: www.engineeringtoolbox.com/dynamic-absolute-kinematic-viscosity-d_412.html
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