Hyaluronic acid in the pulmonary secretions of patients with asthma.

Hyaluronic acid was the only glycosaminoglycan found in the pulmonary secretions of patients with asthma. The compound had a hexuronate/hexosamine molar ratio of about 1:1. Glucosamine constituted over 98% of the hexosamines, the remaining being galactosamine. The compound moved as a single spot with the mobility of standard hyaluronic acid on cellulose acetate electrophoresis, and this spot disappeared after digestion with testicular hyaluronidase. Even after extensive proteolysis and purification, the compound was associated with small amounts of protein, the major amino acids of which were aspartic acid, threonine, serine, glutamic acid, glycine and valine.