Synovial Fluid Rheology, Hyaluronic Acid and Macromolecular Network Structure

Former investigations 1,2,3,4,5,6 of the synovial fluid with modern rheological methods clearly showed a high reduction of the viscosity and elasticity in rheumatoroid arthritis and other arthropathies. The reduction of the concentration and the molecular weight of the hyaluronic acid (HA) is the obvious cause of pathorheological changes. For rheumatoid arthritis the dissociation of a macro-molecular complex of HA and proteins 7,8 is also taken into consideration.