Abstract
Bacsich and Riddell1 have recently discussed the nutrition and structure of Wharton's jelly of the umbilical cord. Their letter was prompted by the description by Barcroft et al.2 of a non-vascular circulation through the cord from placenta to fœtus. Bacsich and Riddell compare the avascular nature of cornea, cartilage and Wharton's jelly and suggest that their nutrition must be similar; they conclude that the non-vascular circulation may contribute to the nutrition of Wharton's jelly itself. They point out that cornea, cartilage and Wharton's jelly all contain similar metachromatic substances and say, "It appears justifiable to suppose that the substance responsible for the specific (metachromatic) staining reaction is either heparin, which is a mucoitin polysulphuric acid or a chemically allied substance because only these substances give a metachromatic staining reaction with toluidine blue".
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References
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MCCLEAN, D., ROGERS, H. Structure of Wharton's Jelly. Nature 155, 606–607 (1945). https://doi.org/10.1038/155606b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/155606b0
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