MOLECULAR FRACTIONATION OF GASTRIC MUCUS COMPONENT BY HIGH-PERFORMANCE LIQUID-CHROMATOGRAPHY - APPLICATION TO PIG GASTRIC MUCUS INVITRO ANDTO HUMAN GASTRIC MUCUS COLLECTED BY ASPIRATION DURING GASTRIC ENDOSCOPY

The glycoprotein molecular composition of antral and fundic adherent m ucus has been studied by high-performance liquid chromatography on a s ilica gel column. Preliminary assays with pig gastric mucus allowed us to demonstrate the reproducibility of the method. The mucolytic activ ity of pepsin on this mucus demonstrates its ability to detect degrada tion of its glycoprotein components. This method was applied to contro l the state of pig antral mucosa that has previously been used in an i n vitro antacid evaluation procedure, and also to study human fundic a nd antral mucus collected by aspiration from normal and diseased stoma chs during upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Different elution profile s were obtained with these samples, depending on the presence of non-d egraded or degraded mucus or due to the lack of mucus on the mucosa.