A number of different types of glycoconjugate are found associated with joint tissue and fluids, comprising glycoproteins, glycolipids and glycosaminoglycans. Oligosaccharide chains of glycoconjugates are degraded by exoglycosidases, and the dominant exoglycosidase found in human blood, synovial fluid, the synovial membrane and chondrocytes of articular cartilage is HEX (N-acetyl-β-hexosaminidase). HEX is localized mostly intracellularly in synovial cells. Serum activity of HEX may be used to monitor the course and efficiency of treatment of Lyme arthritis, and activity of HEX, above 10 μkat/kg of protein in the synovial fluid, suggests rheumatoid disease. There is a shortage of HEX inhibitors able to penetrate synoviocytes, so the development of drugs which inhibit synthesis and/or the activity of HEX will be a promising field for future investigations.
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February 2011
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Conference Article|
January 19 2011
Glycoconjugate markers of joint diseases
Janusz Popko;
Janusz Popko
1
*Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Medical University, Białystok, Poland
1To whom correspondence should be addressed (email jpopko@umwb.edu.pl).
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Sławomir Olszewski;
Sławomir Olszewski
*Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Medical University, Białystok, Poland
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Tomasz Guszczyn;
Tomasz Guszczyn
*Department of Pediatric Orthopedics and Traumatology, Medical University, Białystok, Poland
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Krzysztof Zwierz;
Krzysztof Zwierz
†Medical Institute, College of Computer Science and Business Administration, Łomża, Poland
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Sławomir Pancewicz
Sławomir Pancewicz
‡Department of Infectious Diseases and Neuroinfections, Medical University, Białystok, Poland
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
September 08 2010
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© The Authors Journal compilation © 2011 Biochemical Society
2011
Biochem Soc Trans (2011) 39 (1): 331–335.
Article history
Received:
September 08 2010
Citation
Janusz Popko, Sławomir Olszewski, Tomasz Guszczyn, Krzysztof Zwierz, Sławomir Pancewicz; Glycoconjugate markers of joint diseases. Biochem Soc Trans 1 February 2011; 39 (1): 331–335. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST0390331
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