Measurement of chondroitin sulphate disaccharides in pathological joint fluids

Abstract

A range of extracellular matrix components have been investigated as ‘markers’ of joint tissue metabolism and many of them have proved to be useful for this purpose. Chondroitin sulphate is the major sulphated glycosaminoglycan present in the extracellular matrix of joint tissues and is an integral component of many proteoglycans. The different molecular forms of proteoglycan (decorin, biglycan, versican, aggrecan etc.) have specific chondroitin sulphation patterns which vary with age and disease.