Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid, a glycosaminoglycan found in various connective tissue of humans. Chemistry
Sodium hyaluronate is the sodium salt of hyaluronic acid. It is a glycosaminoglycan and long-chain polymer of disaccharide units of Na-glucuronate-N-acetylglucosamine. It can bind to specific receptors for which it has a high affinity. The polyanionic form, commonly referred to as hyaluronan, is a visco-elastic polymer found in the aqueous and vitreous humour of the eye and in the fluid of articulating joints. Natural occurrence
Sodium hyaluronate, as hyaluronic acid, is distributed widely in the extracellular matrix of mammalian connective, epithelial, and neural tissues, as well as the corneal endothelium. Mechanism of action
Sodium hyaluronate functions as a tissue lubricant and is thought to play an important role in modulating the interactions between adjacent tissues. It forms a viscoelastic solution in water. Mechanical protection for tissues (iris, retina) and cell layers (corneal, endothelium, and epithelium) are provided by the high viscosity of the solution. Elasticity of the solution assists in absorbing mechanical stress and providing a protective buffer for tissues. In facilitating wound healing, it is thought that it acts as a protective transport vehicle, taking peptide growth factors and other structural proteins to a site of action. It is then enzymatically degraded and active proteins are released to promote tissue repair. Pharmacokinetics
Sodium hyaluronate is cleared within hours of injection but appears to have residual effects on contacted cells. In the eye it is eliminated via the canal of Schlemm.
The addition to skin creams became popular in the second millennium. Its efficacy against wrinkles has not been tested in clinical trials.Dry, scaly skin, such as that caused by atopic dermatitis, may be treated with lotion or another skin product containing sodium hyaluronate as its active ingredient.After instillation into the lung, higher molecular weight hyaluronate appears to persist longer in the lung but if > 215 kD there was poor lung penetration and mucociliary clearance. Hyaluronate could allow access to lymph nodes draining the pulmonary bed. Intravesical instillation
Sodium hyaluronate can be instilled into the bladder for the treatment of various forms of cystitis and associated bladder pain, by replenishing the glycosaminoglycan layer of the bladder urothelium. Contraindications
Sodium hyaluronate has a very low incidence of side effects, however it is contraindicated in people who are sensitive to hyaluronate preparations. If being administered as an intra-articular injection, it should not be given when there are infections or skin disease at the injection site. History
In the late 1970s and early 1980s the material was used with the brand names of Hylartin and Hylartin Vetused in human and veterinary clinical trials (race horses) to treat osteoarthritis. The first commercially sold sodium hyaluronate had been developed by Endre Alexander Balazs under the brand name of Healon, manufactured by Pharmacia AB in Sweden in 1980. In 1986, sodium hyaluronate was used as an intra-articular injection to treat osteoarthritis of the knee with the product Hyalart/Hyalgan by Fidia of Italy. See also
Hyaluronic acid sodium salt
Biochem/physiol Actions
Hyaluronic Acid
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