STEFANO MASI
Product Manager, Nutraceutical Actives, ROELMI HPC Srl, Origgio, Varese, Italy

Abstract

Hyaluronan, generally reported as sodium hyaluronate or hyaluronic acid (HA), is a natural polymer of connective tissues. It is mainly used for the treatment of osteoarthritis, to reduce wrinkles, to improve skin properties and to support wound healing and mucosae. In the body, HA is found in different molecular weights. In vitro studies demonstrated that different weights lead to different features, behaviours and physiological effects. Bioavailability, anti-oxidant and anti-inflammatory activity and resistance to hyaluronidase have proved to vary. In vivo absorption studies showed better bioavailability pattern for low molecular weights in the short time, but suggesting HA activation in time and blood concentration increase, whatever the molecular weight. These findings brought to the Full Spectrum Technology by ROELMI HPC, leading to 2.0 Full Spectrum Hyaluronans, the second generation of sodium hyaluronate. This is characterized by specific HA fingerprints (spectra) for targeted applications within the nutraceutical and cosmetic fields.

INTRODUCTION

Sodium hyaluronate (HA) is a natural polysaccharide, belonging to glycosaminoglycans (GAG), consisting of alternating disaccharide monomers of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid, joined by β-1,4 and β-1,3 glycosidic bonds. It is a linear polymer, with a high molecular weight, where the basal unit is repeated from 2000 to 25000 times, resulting in a molecule length from 2 to 25 µm.

It is an important constituent of the extra- and peri-cellular matrix and in humans, it is found in the connective, epithelial and nervous tissue (1, 2, 3). HA physiological synthesis passes through a biochemical reaction consisting in the polymerization of glucuronic acid and N-acetylglucosamine, catalysed by the hyaluronate enzyme synthase (HAS), which produce hyaluronic acid polymers of different molecular weight.

Historically obtained from animal tissues (e.g. rooster comb), HA resulted in a low purity product, with a prevalence of LMW molecules and potential allergenic residues. A valuable solution came in the early 1980s from fermentation technology (4). Streptococcus zooepidemicus, or other species belo ...