Electrophoresis studies on the contaminating glycosaminoglycans in commercially available hyaluronic acid products.

Hyaluronic acid (HA) samples showing inhibition effect on digestion with testicular hyaluronidase (HAase) were found from 16 commercially available HA products, which were supplied from 11 different manufacturers. Most of these HA samples (six samples) were derived from the rooster comb, and one sample was derived from the human umbilical cord. HA oligosaccharides produced by exhaustive digestion of these HA samples with testicular HAases were monitored by capillary electrophoresis, and we found that a few HA samples gave no oligosaccharide products. Detailed analysis of HA samples by cellulose acetate membrane electrophoresis revealed that the HA samples were not digested with HAase because of the presence of a small amount of dermatan sulfate (DS). Analysis of disaccharide units of these HA samples produced by digestion with chondroitinase ABC supported the observations. And the content of DS in the sample was estimated to be ca. 8%. In contrast, these HA samples were easily digested with bacterial hyaluronate lyases from Streptomyces hyalurolyticus and Streptococcus dysgalactiae and gave endproducts of unsaturated disaccharide or unsaturated tetra- or hexasaccharides. The results suggested that the inhibitory effect of DS on HAase is specific to endo-type hydrolase (i.e. testicular HAase). In addition, pharmaceutical preparations of HA derived from rooster comb were easily digested with testicular HAase. These findings will be useful information for clinical or cosmetic use of HA preparations in terms of their half-life.