Comparison of glycosaminoglycans from thoracic aortas of several mammals.

Intima-media of porcine, canine, rabbit, and human thoracic aortas were separately digested with pronase, after extraction of fat. Glycosaminoglycan fractions were then separated from the resulting glycoconjugate fractions by precipitation with cetylpyridinium chloride. Glycosaminoglycan compositions were determined by sequential digestion with Streptomyces hyaluronidase, chondroitinase AC, chondroitinase ABC and heparitinase 1. All the tissues contained hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfates AC, dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate. Of these glycosaminoglycans, chondroitin sulfates AC were the most prominent ones. Relatively large proportions of heparan sulfate were contained in these tissues except for canine aorta. It is noteworthy that the proportions of glycosaminoglycans in the intima-media of rabbit and human thoracic aortas with similar maturation were quite similar, although those of others differed from each other.