Enhancement of urate solubility by connective tissue. I. Effect of proteoglycan aggregates and buffer cation.

Proteoglycan aggregates (PGC) facilitated dissolution of 2 1/2 times more sodium urate crystals than nonaggregated proteoglycans. This effect of aggregates on urate solubility was abolished by digestion of the aggregates with hyaluronic acid beta1 leads to 3 hydrolase. PGC, however, did not sustain urate concentrations in supersaturated solutions. Potassium urate was severalfold more soluble than sodium urate. In vivo, where they exist predominantly as their sodium salts in the extracellular connective tissue, proteoglycans may not markedly influence the solubility of sodium urate.