Production of Hyaluronic Acid by Cysts and Tumors of the Ciliary Body

Abstract

Hyaluronic acid was first isolated from the vitreous body and, in fact, was named after it (uronic acid from the hyaloid body).¹ Subsequently hyaluronic acid was also found in the aqueous humor.^2,3 Ever since, there has been much speculation as to the source of the hyaluronic acid contained in these ocular tissues. Meyer and Palmer suspected it to be formed by the ciliary epithelium.² Pirie and van Heyningen wrote, "The cells which produce hyaluronic acid are unknown. No polysaccharide has been found histologically in the cells or tissues surrounding the joint cavity, and no one has been able to identify hyaluronic acid intracellularly in the eye by histological means. The amount of hyaluronic acid present in synovial fluid or vitreous humour is, in fact, so small, in spite of the high viscosity of the fluids, that the problem of finding the cells of origin may be simply