Influence of glycosaminoglycan content on mass transfer behavior of porcine artery wall. Part 2. Differences in mass transfer rates related to variations in glycosaminoglycan content.

It has been suggested that the glycosaminoglycans (GAG) influence atherogenesis by regulating the permeability of the arterial wall. For this reason, a study has been made of the diffusive transport of Ca2+ and water across the in vitro porcine artery wall, where particular attention was focused on the influence of GAG content and distribution within the wall on the transport properties. The radioisotop-s 45Ca and 3HHO were used to measure the tracer-diffusion flux in a stirred, two chamber diffusion cell. GAG were isolated, fractionated using a cetyl pyridinium chloride-cellulose column procedure, and assayed using a colorimetric carbazole reaction for uronic acid. The biochemical analyses showed that the pulmonary artery contains significantly more hyaluronic acid and dermatan sulfate than found in two locations in the thoracic aorta. In addition, a significant regression was found for the diffusion coefficient of 45Ca2+ (99% level) and 3HHO (95% level) versus specific GAG fractions. The regression indicated an increase in permeability with increase in the ratio of sulfated: nonsulfated GAG.