QUANTIFICATION OF CHONDROITIN SULFATES AND HYALURONAN IN SYNOVIAL FLUID USING HIGH PERFORMANCE LIQUID CHROMATOGRAPHY

Purpose: Extracellular proteins such as aggrecan may be primed with specific glycan-patterns which result in their degradation, and hence may play a role in the pathogenesis of osteoarthritis (OA). To be able to use glycans as molecular biomarkers, the method of analysis of these molecules needs to be validated. The primary aim of this study was to validate quantitative high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) of chondroitin sulfate (CS) and hyaluronan (HA) in synovial fluid samples. The secondary aim was to examine the glycan-pattern in different subject groups, and the correlation between age and the concentration of specific glycans.