Progeria & Hyaluronic Acid

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The below study shoots down claims that increased hyaluronic acid

(HA) excretion in urine is a marker for accelerated aging as seen in

children with Progeria. HA is composed of both glucosamine

chondroitin and gluconic acid. HA has been purported to be the

reason that near-centenarian residents of Yuzurihara, Japan have

remarkable skin. -- Logan

Hyaluronan is not elevated in urine or serum in Hutchinson-Gilford

Progeria Syndrome.

Gordon LB, Harten IA, Calabro A, Sugumaran G, Csoka AB, Brown WT,

Hascall V, Toole BP.

Department of Anatomy and Cellular Biology, Tufts University School

of Medicine, 136 on Avenue, Boston, MA 02111, USA.

lbgmdphd@...

Hum Genet. 2003 Jul;113(2):178-87. Epub 2003 May 01.

Elevations in urinary hyaluronan have been used as the principal

laboratory indicator for diagnosis of Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria

Syndrome (HGPS). Previous reports have provided evidence suggesting

that children with HGPS have altered hyaluronan metabolism as

indicated by a mean 17-fold increase in urinary hyaluronan over

normal values. In addition, adults with Werner's syndrome have

elevated urinary hyaluronan and even more prominent elevations in

serum hyaluronan over age-matched controls. It is not known whether

serum hyaluronan is elevated or whether serum hyaluronan levels

correlate with urinary hyaluronan levels in children with HGPS. In a

large cohort of 19 HGPS patients, we sought to confirm elevations in

urinary hyaluronan concentration, to establish whether serum

hyaluronan is elevated, to measure the size of urinary hyaluronan,

and to determine whether serum or urine hyaluronidase levels are

altered. We have analyzed urinary and serum hyaluronan levels in

patients with HGPS and control patients (1) by using an enzyme-linked

immunosorbent assay (ELISA)-like method in which sample hyaluronan in

solution and hyaluronan in solid phase compete for a solution of

biotinylated hyaluronan-binding protein, and (2) by fluorophore-

assisted carbohydrate electrophoresis. The size of urinary hyaluronan

was measured by using Sepharose CL-6B size exclusion chromatography.

Serum and urinary hyaluronidases were evaluated quantitatively, by

using ELISA, and qualitatively, by using a gel detection method. HGPS

patients did not show a significant elevation in either urinary or

serum hyaluronan. We detected no difference in the size of urinary

hyaluronan between HGPS children and age-matched controls. Serum and

urinary hyaluronidase levels were not significantly different in

normal and HGPS patients. These studies indicate that neither serum

nor urinary hyaluronan concentration is a reliable diagnostic or

prognostic marker for HGPS and underscore a difference between adult

and childhood progerias.