336 ALBERT DORFMAN AND SARA SCHILLER 



TABLE III 



Recovery of Acid Mucopolysaccharides added to Skin 



Recovery of total mucopolysaccharides Recovery of 

 Amount added muco- 



Substance 

 added 



Hyaluronic 

 acid 



Chondro- 

 itinsul- 

 phuric 

 acid-B 



Heparin 



o 4 M NaCl I • 2 M NaCl 2 • i M NaCl polysaccharides 



mg.^ 



2-53 



0-95 



0-71 



mg. uronic acid per 5 g. 

 acetone-drv skin 



2 -96 



I -40 



0-57 



0/ 

 /o 



* As uronic acid. 



of this reduction in polysaccharide content, particularly with respect to 

 hyaluronic acid and heparin, is not entirely clear. Previous claims [51] 

 that with advancing age there is a shift from hyaluronic acid to chondroitin 

 sulphuric acid are not substantiated by these data although a relative shift 



TABLE IV 

 Effect of Age on Concentration of Mucopolysaccharides in Rat Skin 



Age 

 (days) 



Hvaluronic acid 



Chondroitin 

 sulphuric acid 



Heparin 



21* 

 23* 

 44* 

 57* 

 74* 



217* 



406 



473 

 561 

 893 

 951 



fj.g. uronic acid/g. dry rat skin 



979 385 



894 406 



1232 337 



439 218 



540 197 



578 273 



320 140 



540 200 



480 257 



380 135 



538 256 



421 

 562 

 388 

 100 



92 

 1 1 1 



70 

 1 10 



68 



35 

 100 



* These data were obtained from pools of eight to ten rat skins for each age 

 group. In the older age groups, the results represent values from individual 

 animals. 



