The carbohydrate complexes of bronchial secretion

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Abstract
A method has been described for isolating 2 mucopolysaccharide fractions and an electrophoretically homogeneous mucoprotein from pooled acetone-dried sputum. The 2 mucopoly-sacchardies, one insoluble and the other soluble in 90% (w/v) phenol-water mixture, contained 5.2 and 5.7% of N respectively; they were similar in composition to the blood-group mucopolysaccharides. The mucoprotein, which contained 8.7% of N, was distinct from either of the mucopolysaccharides isolated from sputum, but had some properties in common with the mucoprotein that can be isolated from urine. The polysaccharide moieties of the mucopolysaccharides were composed of N-acetylglucosamine, N-acetylchondrbsamine, galactose and fucose; the mucoprotein contained mannose in addition to these sugars. The phenol-insoluble mucopolysaccharide was electrophoretically non-homogeneous, showing 2 components which moved at similar velocities. In contrast, the sputum mucoprotein was essentially homogeneous. These carbohydrate complexes constitute less than 50% of the total solids of pooled sputum. They represent, either wholly or partly, the secretory activities of the bronchial epithelium possibly modified by disease; they may have suffered some degree of degradation during their isolation.