Comparative study of the state of water in various human tissues.

We studied the dependence of water exchange in various human tissues (skin, Achilles tendon, various types of hyaline cartilage, muscle, and muscle fascia) on the content of collagen and proteoglycans. Carbohydrates of the connective tissue do not play the major role in tissue water exchange. Collagen fibers and proteoglycan aggregates probably retain the main part of bound and free water, respectively.