Biochemical characterization of hyaluronic acid from a case of benign, localized, pleural mesothelioma

Our plain-English summary of Biochemical characterization of hyaluronic acid from a case of benign, localized, pleural mesothelioma, by M. Motomiya, M. Endo, H. Arai, et al (The American Review of Respiratory Disease, 1975).

The study

• Authors: M. Motomiya, M. Endo, H. Arai, A. Yokosawa, H. Sato, K. Konno
• Journal: The American Review of Respiratory Disease
• Published: 1975;111(6):775-80
• Cited by: 19 articles, as counted by NIH iCite
• Read it: PubMed · Publisher

Abstract

The tissue of a benign, localized, pleural mesothelioma was digested with protease, and the crude polysaccharide was fractionated by a column of Dowex-1 (Cl-form). The eluate from the column was electrophoresed and incubated with various mucopolysaccharide lysases. Based on the results of column chromatography, electrophoresis, and enzymatic digestion, it was found that hyaluronic acid was the major constituent of the glycosaminoglycans in pleural mesothelioma. The hyaluronic acid from pleural mesothelioma seemed to be identical in structure with that from human umbilical cord; however, the hyaluronic acid from mesothelioma was eluted before that from human umbilical cord when fractionated by the column of Sepharose 4B, suggesting a differnence in molecular size between the two. Also, evidence was obtained for the presence of dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate.

In plain English

This laboratory study, by researchers at Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan, analyzed tumor tissue from one patient. The patient had a benign, localized pleural mesothelioma that filled almost the entire right side of the chest. The authors processed 245 g of the tumor tissue and separated its sugar-chain compounds (glycosaminoglycans) using column chromatography, electrophoresis and enzyme digestion. By the enzyme method, hyaluronic acid made up 82 per cent of these compounds, dermatan sulfate 8.8 per cent, chondroitin sulfate A (C) 3.3 per cent, and the remainder 5.9 per cent. By a second method, weighing, the main hyaluronic acid fraction made up 67 per cent of the total glycosaminoglycans. Heparan sulfate was also detected. The tumor's hyaluronic acid appeared to have the same structure as hyaluronic acid from human umbilical cord, but its molecules were larger. The study did not examine asbestos exposure. The authors mentioned asbestos only as being believed to be one cause of pleural mesothelioma. The authors concluded that their report seemed to be the first biochemical report to demonstrate with certainty hyaluronic acid, dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate in a benign, localized pleural mesothelioma.

We wrote this plain-English summary from the full article with the help of AI, and a second AI model checked each sentence against the article. It is not the authors' wording; the abstract and the article are their own account.

What the study did and found

• Design: Laboratory biochemical analysis of tumor tissue from a single case (one patient)
• Who was studied: 245 g of excised tumor tissue from one patient with a benign, localized pleural mesothelioma that occupied almost the entire right hemithorax. The work was done at Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan. Hyaluronic acid from human umbilical cord was used for comparison. The patient's clinical history is not given in this paper (it is reported separately), and the dates of the case are not stated.
• Exposure: No asbestos exposure was studied, and the patient's exposure history is not reported. In the discussion the authors mentioned asbestos (which they described as native calcium-magnesium silicate) only as believed to be one of the causes of pleural mesothelioma, citing another study.
• Main results:
  • By successive enzyme digestion of the tumor's crude glycosaminoglycans: hyaluronic acid 82 per cent, chondroitin sulfate A (C) 3.3 per cent, dermatan sulfate 8.8 per cent, and the remainder 5.9 per cent of the total
  • By weighing, the hyaluronic acid fraction (0.5 M NaCl fraction) made up 67 per cent of the total glycosaminoglycans. The authors attributed the lower value to small amounts of hyaluronic acid found in other fractions.
  • Heparan sulfate was found in some fractions, and dermatan sulfate plus a trace of chondroitin sulfate A (C) in others
  • The tumor's hyaluronic acid appeared structurally the same as hyaluronic acid from human umbilical cord
  • The tumor's hyaluronic acid had a larger molecular size than umbilical cord hyaluronic acid
• The authors' conclusion: The authors concluded that, as far as they could tell from the references available to them, theirs seemed to be the first biochemical report to demonstrate with certainty hyaluronic acid, dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate in a benign, localized pleural mesothelioma.

Topics

The National Library of Medicine indexes this study under subjects our site covers: Mesothelioma.

Medical terms in this study, explained in our Lexicon: Hyaluronic Acid, Pleural Mesothelioma, Mesothelioma.

Related studies

• Histochemical demonstration of hyaluronic acid in pleural mesotheliomas — J.C. Wagner, D.E. Munday, et al. (1962)
• Pleural effusion hyaluronic acid as a prognostic marker in pleural malignant mesothelioma — J. Creaney, I.M. Dick, et al. (2013)
• Hyaluronic acid in the pleural fluid of patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma — N. Fujimoto, K. Gemba, et al. (2013)
• Serum mesothelin has a higher diagnostic utility than hyaluronic acid in malignant mesothelioma — B. Grigoriu, B. Chahine, et al. (2009)
• Clinical significance of the immunometric measurements of hyaluronic acid — E.H. Cooper, B.J. Rathbone (1990)
• Utility of hyaluronic acid in pleural fluid for differential diagnosis of pleural effusions: likelihood ratios for malignant mesothelioma — S. Atagi, M. Ogawara, et al. (1997)

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