Mucins from cystic fibrosis sputum.

A biochemical study of bronchial mucins in sputum from patients with cystic 
fibrosis was undertaken in order to determine their chemical features and 
to compare them with bronchial mucins secreted in other physiological or 
pathological conditions. The mucins studied in the present work were obtained 
from the insoluble and fibrillar part of sputum. If bronchial mucins 
are the main glycoproteins in the fibrillar mucus, these data suggest 
that there is a high proportion of acidic mucins within the 
bronchial secretions from CF patients. The predominance of acidic mucins may 
not be a specific feature of CF since the sputum from 
the 2 patients with other diseases had a similar mucin distribution. 
As far as CF is concerned, it is presently impossible to 
state whether the bronchial mucins represent normal mucins of the child 
or structurally abnormal molecules. 