[Biochemical study of the glycosaminoglycan peptides obtained from osteoarthrotic and normal femoral heads (author's transl)].

Glycosaminoglycan peptides prepared by papain hydrolysis of different regions were obtained from osteoarthrotic and normal human femoral heads. Data obtained in these experiments show that in osteoarthrosis a decrease in keratan sulfate and an increase in chondroitin sulfate are observed. Since keratan sulfate appeared to play an important role in proteoglycan aggregation, we suggest that the keratan sulfate decrease is one of the factors involved in the cartilage disorder observed in patients suffering from osteoarthrosis.