Skip to main content
PMC home page
Journal of Clinical Pathology logoLink to Journal of Clinical Pathology
. 1988 Sep;41(9):1021–1024. doi: 10.1136/jcp.41.9.1021

Simple procedure for assessing relative quantities of neutral and acidic sugars in mucin glycoproteins: its use in assessing cyclical changes in cervical mucins.

C B Gilks 1, P E Reid 1, P B Clement 1, D A Owen 1
PMCID: PMC1141666  PMID: 3192745

Abstract

A simple histochemical procedure for assessing relative amounts of neutral and acidic sugars in mucin glycoproteins, and its application in the study of cyclical changes of human cervical mucins, is described. This procedure, the saponification/selective periodate oxidation/borohydride reduction/alcian blue pH 2.5/periodic acid Schiff (KOH/PA*/Bh/Ab 2.5/PAS) method, uses a selective oxidation step to remove the PAS positivity of sialic acid; thus only neutral sugars stain positively with PAS, and acidic sugars (O-sulphate esters and carboxyl groups) stain with alcian blue. This differs from the KOH/Ab/PAS technique which stains sialic acid residues with both alcian blue and PAS. Applying the KOH/PA*/Bh/Ab 2.5/PAS technique to the study of cyclical changes of human cervical mucins, a decreased neutral:acidic sugar ratio in the secretory phase mucins compared with those of the proliferative phase was found. This difference was not seen with KOH/Ab/PAS staining in the same cases. The techniques and reagents used in this procedure can be easily applied in a clinical histopathology laboratory.

Full text

PDF
1021

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Bargee J. D., Delamater E. D. The Use of Thionyl Chloride in the Preparation of Schiff's Reagent. Science. 1948 Jul 30;108(2796):121–122. doi: 10.1126/science.108.2796.121. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Filipe M. I. "Transitional mucosa". Histopathology. 1984 Jul;8(4):707–708. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2559.1984.tb02383.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Fordney-Settlage D. A review of cervical mucus and sperm interactions in humans. Int J Fertil. 1981;26(3):161–169. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Iacobelli S., Garcea N., Angeloni C. Biochemistry of cervical mucus: a comparative analysis of the secretion from preovulatory, postovulatory, and pregnancy periods. Fertil Steril. 1971 Nov;22(11):727–734. doi: 10.1016/s0015-0282(16)38582-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Klessen C. Demonstrastion eines Alkali PAS-Effektes bei Verwendung von Perjodsäure in niedriger Konzentration. Histochemistry. 1978 Jul 12;56(3-4):299–305. doi: 10.1007/BF00495991. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Park C. M., Reid P. E., Owen D. A., Dunn W. L., Volz D. Histochemical procedures for the simultaneous visualization of neutral sugars and either sialic acid and its O-acyl variants or O-sulphate ester. II. Methods based upon the periodic acid-phenylhydrazine-Schiff reaction. Histochem J. 1987 May;19(5):257–263. doi: 10.1007/BF01675684. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Park C. M., Reid P. E., Owen D. A., Sanker J. M., Applegarth D. A. Morphological and histochemical changes in intestinal mucosa in the reserpine-treated rat model of cystic fibrosis. Exp Mol Pathol. 1987 Aug;47(1):1–12. doi: 10.1016/0014-4800(87)90002-5. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Park C. M., Reid P. E., Walker D. C., MacPherson B. R. A simple, practical 'swiss roll' method of preparing tissues for paraffin or methacrylate embedding. J Microsc. 1987 Jan;145(Pt 1):115–120. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2818.1987.tb01321.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Roberts G. P. Histochemical detection of sialic acid residues using periodate oxidation. Histochem J. 1977 Jan;9(1):97–102. doi: 10.1007/BF01007012. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Van Kooij R. J., Roelofs H. J., Kathmann G. A., Kramer M. F. Human cervical mucus and its mucous glycoprotein during the menstrual cycle. Fertil Steril. 1980 Sep;34(3):226–233. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Volz D., Reid P. E., Park C. M., Owen D. A., Dunn W. L. Histochemical procedures for the simultaneous visualization of neutral sugars and either sialic acid and its side chain O-acyl variants or O-sulphate ester. I. Methods based upon the selective periodate oxidation of sialic acids. Histochem J. 1987 May;19(5):249–256. doi: 10.1007/BF01675683. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Volz D., Reid P. E., Park C. M., Owen D. A., Dunn W. L., Ramey C. W. Can 'mild' periodate oxidation be used for the specific histochemical identification of sialic acid residues? Histochem J. 1986 Oct;18(10):579–582. doi: 10.1007/BF01675200. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Wakefield E. A., Wells M. Histochemical study of endocervical glycoproteins throughout the normal menstrual cycle and adjacent to cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. Int J Gynecol Pathol. 1985;4(3):230–239. doi: 10.1097/00004347-198509000-00007. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Weber P., Harrison F. W., Hof L. The histochemical application of dansylhydrazine as a fluorescent labeling reagent for sialic acid in cellular glycoconjugates. Histochemistry. 1975 Dec 19;45(4):271–277. doi: 10.1007/BF00492629. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Wolf D. P., Sokoloski J. E., Litt M. Composition and functioin of human cervical mucus. Biochim Biophys Acta. 1980 Jul 15;630(4):545–558. doi: 10.1016/0304-4165(80)90009-4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Journal of Clinical Pathology are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES