One function of hyaluronic acid is to retain moisture. (You can read about this in some of the related links listed below.) It is logical to suspect that the body may be trying to retain moisture by increasing hyaluronic acid in the blood. If oxygen levels at the cell were reduced, there would also be a corresponding reduction in the output of water (H2O) normally produced as a by-product of the Electron Transport Chain. Also, H2O is the major component in blood, and from the findings of Drs. Bell and Streeten, the total blood volume may be low. So it is plausible to think that the hyaluronic acid is elevated to retain water in the circulatory system.
Another possibility is that the controlling substance is not doing its job of keeping the hyaluronic acid levels under control. From the related links information we learn that hyaluronic acid is degraded in the presence of oxygen. This elevated level of hyaluronic acid could further support the premise that oxygen is lacking in the blood.
This is very interesting. Oxygen is key to the production of water at the cell level. Oxygen is also a control for the substance that retains water. If oxygen decreases, water production at the cell deminishes, and the substance that retains fluid, hyaluronic acid, increases.
Misshapen Red Blood Cells
Dr. Leslie Simpson, a researcher from New Zealand has found that there are
six different shapes of red blood cells in the blood of people with
fibromyalgia. (He does not refer to them as being misshapen, that is my
wording.) One possibility provided in the article is that an acidic
cellular environment could alter the cytoskelatal structure in the
cell, thereby causing a change in cell shape. A hypoxic condition (low
oxygen levels) in the blood is another possible cause given for the
different RBC shapes found. I think that it may even be possible that
the different RBC shapes are being introduced at the time that the cells
are formed.
Low Serum 2,3 DPG
A Canadian teenager, Ms. Dilnaz Panjwani,
found a correlation of low levels of a substance 2,3 DPG in people
with fibromyalgia.
The purpose of 2,3 DPG is to shake as much oxygen free from the hemoglobin as is possible to avoid tissue hypoxia. An example of when the body would naturally increase levels of 2,3 DPG is if a person were acclimated to living at a low elevation and then traveled to a location high in the mountains. Because the air pressure is less at the higher altitudes there would be less oxygen transfered to the blood. In this scenario, the body would increase 2,3 DPG levels to avoid tissue hypoxia in the short term. In a few days, as the body becomes acclimated to the lower oxygen pressure at the higher altitude, by manufacturing more red blood cells, the 2,3 DPG levels would return to normal.
One Dr. has suggested that having a lower level of 2,3 DPG may cause the hemoglobin to hold onto the oxygen more tightly and not release it to the tissue. I have not found anything yet that supports the supposition. I am not saying that the supposition is incorrect, just that I have not found any information to support it, or to refute it.
Related Links |
| Elevated levels of hyaluronic acid in the sera of women with fibromyalgia |