Neuraminic acid and its relation to chronic bronchitis. II

Comparisons have been made of the neuraminic acid, hexosamine and hexose content of saliva and bronchial mucus obtained from chronic bronchitis patients and controls. It has been shown that a bronchitic gives a bronchial mucus, which contains on average 30 times more neuraminic acid (per g of non-dialysable material) than is present in his saliva. With controls the neuraminic acid content of their bronchial mucus was on average 8 times greater than that of their saliva. Since the proportion of bronchial mucus in a chronic bronchitic's sputum decreases as he recovers, a patient's progress can be followed chemically by neuraminic acid determination.