The relationship between hyaluronidase activity and hyaluronic acid concentration in sera from normal controls and from patients with disseminated neoplasm

Abstract

Serum hyaluronidase activity (HAE) and hyaluronic acid (HA) concentration were measured in sera from patients with disseminated neoplasm and compared to those of normal controls. The serum HAE activity in disseminated neoplasm (mean, 12.6 μmol N-acetylglucosamine (NAG)/min/l; range, 5.2–24.7 μmol NAG/min/l) was significantly lower (t = 6.7, p < 0.001) than in normal controls (mean, 17.1 μmol NAG/min/l; range, 11.5–27.0 μmol NAG/min/l). The serum HA concentration in patients with disseminated neoplasm (mean, 8199.7 μg/l; range, 42.0–496000 μg/l) was significantly higher (t = 2.63, 0.01 > p > 0.001) than in normal age-matched controls (mean, 55.6 μg/l; range, 10.0–348.0 μg/l). A negative correlation was found between the serum HAE activity and the HA concentration (r = − 0.45, t = 5.92, p < 0.001). The possible reasons for the low serum HAE activity and the raised serum HA concentration in patients with disseminated neoplasm and the negative correlation between the results are discussed.