Acid Mucopolysaccharide Alterations in Experimental Exophthalmos1

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Abstract
Injection of thyrotropin in guinea pigs induced an experimental exophthalmos which was associated with increased concentrations of acid mucopolysaccharides in the retrobulbar tissues. Hyaluronic acid (HA) was the acid mucopolysaccharide component affected, and the response to thyrotropin in thyroidectomized animals was log-dose in form. There was a lesser increment in tissue HA with a more purified thyrotropin when related to the thyroid stimulating effect. Other anterior pituitary hormones were without effect. Thyroxine produced a decrease in the hyaluronic acid concentrations of all tissues examined. It was in the most internal structures of the guinea pig orbit, i.e., harderian gland and extraocular muscles, that the acid mucopolysaccharide metabolism was responsive to thyrotropin. Although this effect appeared by histochemical methods to be localized to the connective tissue elements of these structures, other tissues (eyelids and skin) with abundant connective tissue had no augmentation of HA by thyrotropin.