MOLECULAR-DYNAMICS OF HYALURONATES IN SOLUTION

The dynamic properties of hyaluronate solutions are discussed with relevance to some problems in sensory physiology (mechanoelectrical transduction), renal physiology, interstitial fluid regulation and especially to the causes of open-angle glaucoma. With respect to the last problem: as recent biochemical evidence indicates that the hyaloid membrane does not exist, it now seems worthwhile to consider the increase in intraocular pressure present in the eye with glaucoma to be due, at least in the open-angle case, to a change in the specific gravity and hydrophilic nature of the hyaluronic acid in the vitreous body in particular, as well as in the trabecular meshwork. Densimetric experimental evidence indicates that the hyaluronate system could produce the pressure changes seen in glaucoma, if intraocular pH changed but slightly. A hypothesis concerning the effect of acetazolamide on intraocular pressure is also presented.