Further studies on gel filtration of urinary mucosaccharides

Studies on skin and urinary mucopolysaccharides in malnourished/vitamin A deficient children

In protein-calorie malnourished children, with or without associated vitamin A deficiency, skin content of acid mucopolysaccharides (MPS) and urinary excretion of MPS and amino sugars were studied. MPS content of skin in both malnourished groups was increased 3-6-fold. This increase was essentially in the non-sulphated component. In normal skin, non-sulphate MPS accounted for 68% of the MPS content, whereas in the malnourished group with vitamin A deficiency it constituted 93%. Urinary excretion of MPS (24h) was significantly reduced by 50-70% in malnourished groups. This returned to normal levels in the malnourished/vitamin A deficient group when vitamin A injections were administered. Excretion of amino sugars (24 h) in the malnourished groups was also decreased by 50-70%. In normal children 55% of the total amino sugars was dialysable whereas in the malnourished it was increased to 60%. The excretion of protein-bound and dialysable amino sugars was increased to normal level only in the group given supplements of vitamin A in addition of protein and calories.

Increased excretion of two sialic acid-containing trisaccharides in the urine of patients with rheumatoid arthritis

The urinary excretion of sialic acid-containing trisaccharides in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis was studied. Sialyl-lactose and sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine were identified and their excretion patterns studied by thin layer and gas chromatography. The urinary output of sialyl-lactose was greater in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (48.2 +/- 6.1 mg/24 h, SEM, n = 6) than in healthy subjects (19.8 +/- 3.7 mg/24 h, SEM, n = 5; P less than 0.01). The excretion of sialyl-N-acetyllactosamine was also higher in the rheumatoid group (18.5 +/- 2.1 mg/24 h, SEM, n = 6) than in the controls (11.1 +/- 1.2 mg/24 h, SEM, n = 5; P less than 0.05). The qualitative excretion patterns of the sialyl-oligosaccharide fraction were similar for the two groups as judged from the thin layer chromatograms. Correlating the results with the clinical state of the patients with rheumatoid arthritis suggests that the urinary level of the sialyl-oligosaccharides reflects the activity of the disease. A proposed mechanism for the increased excretion of sialic acid-containing trisaccharides in rheumatoid arthritis is presented.

Further studies on gel filtration of urinary substances

Urine specimens from healthy children were concentrated and filtered through Sephadex G-100 and G-25. The eluate was recovered in fractions of 5 ml each. Total hexoses, galactose, total proteins and total uronic acids were determined on each fraction. Total hexoses and galactose were eluted in 6 distinct peaks. The uronic acid containing GAG were eluted in 4 small peaks on G-25 and 1 peak on G-100. This peak is eluted always with high amounts of galactose containing glycoproteins.