Arborization of Cervical and Nasal Mucus and Saliva

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Abstract
Arborization occurs upon the encounter of proteins or their catabolic products with electrolytes (especially NaCl). Arborization represents a special form of crystallization of sodium chloride in the medium of the drying cervical mucus. The electrolyte needs protein or its degradation products as its medium for the arborization mechanism, whereby a distinct proportion must exist between protein and electrolyte. Arborization is a rather nonspecific process, but although nonspecific elsewhere in the body, it is of specific significance in the cervical mucus, because there it depends upon the action of the estrogenic hormone. The arborization mechanism in other mucous secretions, such as the nasal mucus, is not dependent upon the action of the ovarian hormones. Estrogenic hormone which transforms the negative PL test in the cervical mucus into a positive one, does not act in the same way on the nasal mucus. The nasal mucus, in contrast to the cervical mucus, shows no cyclic changes during the menstrual cycle. Saliva: Ingestion of food transforms the negative PL test into a positive one, therefore saliva must be examined from a fasting individual. Saliva of postclimacteric women shows, in contrast to cervical mucus, the same PL reaction as does the saliva of young women. During pregnancy the PL test of the cervical mucus remains negative, whereas the saliva reaction is positive. Arborization with crystallization (PL test) of the cervical mucus, but not of nasal mucus and saliva, can be used for the determination of the ovarian function.

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