Hyaluronic acid
naturally occurring polysaccharide used in skincare for moisture retention and skin hydration
Hyaluronic acid (; HA; conjugate base hyaluronate), also called hyaluronan, is an anionic, nonsulfated glycosaminoglycan distributed widely throughout connective, epithelial, and neural tissues. It is unique among glycosaminoglycans as it is non-sulfated, forms in the plasma membrane instead of the Golgi apparatus, and can be very large: human synovial HA averages about 7 MDa per molecule, or about 20,000 disaccharide monomers, while other sources mention 3–4 MDa.
Medically, hyaluronic acid is used to treat osteoarthritis of the knee and dry eye, for wound repair, and as a cosmetic filler.
These therapeutic uses are possible with modifications to HA, and more are still being developed.
The average 70 kg (150 lb) person has roughly 15 grams of hyaluronan in the body, one third of which is turned over (i.e., degraded and synthesized) per day.
As one of the chief components of the extracellular matrix, it contributes significantly to cell proliferation and migration, and is involved in the progression of many malignant tumors. Hyaluronic acid is also a component of the group A streptococcal extracellular capsule, and is believed to play a role in virulence.
Chemical modifications to HA can improve certain properties such as biocompatibility, permeation, and sustained drug release. Common modification sites include the carboxyl, primary alcohol, and N-acetyl groups. These modifications include amidation, Ugi condensation, esterification, and etherification.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Hyaluronic acid” as naturally occurring polysaccharide used in skincare for moisture retention and skin hydration. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The citation trail is more important than the brevity of the summary: it shows where individual claims can be examined in context. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 21, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q337231. The Library of Congress control number is sh85063257. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Hyaluronic acid” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.