Effects of Growth, Fasting, and Trauma on the Concentrations of Connective Tissue Hexosamine and Water

1. The concentrations of hexosamine and water in connective tissue decrease with growth in the rat. There is a high degree of correlation between the concentrations of water and hexosamine in normal connective tissue. 2. Most traumatic agents (physical and chemical) effect a local non-specific increase in hexosamine and water concentrations. The degree of change of each of these constituents varies with the agent administered. Fasting does not influence this increase in hexosamine in response to local trauma, or the hexosamine concentration in untraumatized connective tissue. 3. Changes in the concentration of connective tissue hexosamine were not detectable following systemic stress (fracture).