Abstract
Summary
The glycosaminoglycan composition of six human cardiac tumors (three myxomas, a malignant mesenchymoma, a rhabdomyoma, and an angiosarcoma) and five control hearts were studied. Found in two different relative proportions, hyaluronic acid and chondroitin 6-sulfate were the major glycosaminoglycans in the myxomas, suggesting the possible existence of two biochemically different myxomas, one high in hyaluronic acid, the other high in chondroitin 6-sulfate. The glycosaminoglycans of angiosarcoma tissues were mainly hyaluronic acid, heparan sulfate and chondroitin 4-sulfate. Tissue of the left and right ventricles of the same heart had the same relative proportions of glycosaminoglycans. Biochemical studies on the connective tissue components may be helpful in understanding the nature of the tumors.
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