When we think of hyaluronic acid (HA), we think of slipperiness inside the joint. But HA is so much more than that. This newsletter explores the many functions and uses of HA.
◆︎ Where it’s located in the body:
Hyaluronic acid is located everywhere. It’s primarily in a space called the extra-cellular matrix. This is the area outside the cells in tissues and organs.
➡ Connective tissue: This includes cartilage, ligaments, and fascia. The fascia is the casing that covers and connects muscles, organs, bones and nerves.
➡ Skin: This includes the layer that connects the skin cells to the underlying structures. HA helps contribute to the elasticity of skin.
➡ Muscle: HA is found surrounding the muscle fibers, muscle bundles, and the entire muscle.
➡ Nerve tissue: HA is present in the brain, as well as the extracellular matrix of peripheral nerves.
➡ Blood vessels: Present in blood vessels, HA helps maintain the vessel integrity.
➡ Digestive tissues: HA is present in the intestines, helping to protect the intestinal wall.
As you can see, HA is important to a myriad of tissues.
◆︎ What does it do?
Because it is a part of the extracellular matrix, it has numerous functions:
☛ Skin: It helps reduce wrinkles, assists in wound healing, protects the skin from damage and is anti-inflammatory.
☛ Joints: It helps increase the slipperiness inside the joint. It also is an anti-oxidant to reduce damage.
☛ Tendons, ligaments, soft tissue: It helps the soft tissues heal. It reduces friction between structures (think lubricating tendons).
☛ Lining of the intestines: It helps protect the intestinal wall and to heal wounds (think ulcers) within the digestive tract. It also helps modulate the immune cells in the intestines. It contributes to the integrity of the intestinal folds.
☛ Muscles: It helps lubricate muscle fibers and connective tissue. Additionally, it provides a level of shock absorbance. It can also affect signaling molecules to increase the stem cell activity to help repair damaged muscle.
◆︎ How does it do these things?
➡ Limits adhesion between tissues.
➡ Reduces inflammation
➡ Promotes healing of tissues – skin, intestines, nerve tissues, connective tissue
◆︎ What can cause a reduction of HA in the body?
There are a number of situations that can cause a drop in HA levels in the body.
● Inflammation and disease. An example of this is Lyme disease. It has been shown that Lyme disease can cause a drop in HA within the body. Another example is inflammation from allergies, both pollen and insect bites.
● Wound repair. HA is a critical component in wound repair. In some types of tissue repair, high molecular weight HA is broken down into lower molecular weight HA. Replenishing the high molecular weight HA may be helpful for continued wound repair.
● Menopause/castration. The drop in estrogens and androgens can cause a reduction of HA, resulting in collagen degradation, loss of elasticity, skin thinning and wrinkling. We notice it in the skin, but it also happens in other tissues of the body.
Supplementation:
Adding HA may be helpful for your horse. There are a couple of important things to remember.
» Be sure that you are purchasing a high molecular weight. Not all HA is the same. High molecular weight HA is anti-inflammatory and promotes healing. My Best Horse Hyaluronic Acid is high molecular weight.
» Be sure that you give your horse sufficient amounts of HA, at 100-300 mg (or even up to 600 mg) per day. Many supplements that include HA have lower levels of HA per serving.
As you can see, hyaluronic acid has an important function within all the tissues of the body. Additional supplementation maybe helpful.
Disclaimer: Statements regarding dietary supplements have not been evaluated by the FDA and are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease or health condition.
©Joan Kulifay 2025