Studies on carbohydrate moieties of glycoproteins in established adjuvant induced arthritis.

The investigation presents the metabolic changes in the carbohydrate components of glycoproteins in several tissues of adjuvant arthritic rats. The experimental arthritis induces a significant modification of total carbohydrate moieties of glycoproteins in arthritic tissues. In both acute and chronic phases of the disease, the adjuvant arthritis caused a significant increase in the levels of carbohydrate moieties of tissue glycoproteins viz. total hexose, hexosamine, fucose, sialic acid, total neutral sugar content and neutral sugar monosaccharides. In addition, the urinary excretions of hexosamine and uronic acid in arthritic rats were found to be elevated significantly. The data from the investigation clearly indicate that the experimental arthritis induces an increased glycoprotein synthesis in most of the tissues examined.