Electrophoretic examination of human cervical mucus from normal,pregnant and carcinomatous patients

Paper electrophoresis in barbiturate buffer, pH 8.6, of cervical mucus from normal and pregnant patients showed the presence of two main bands which stained with bromophenol blue; a non-migratory band composed of insoluble acid mucopolysaccharides and sloughed-off cell debris and a diffuse band, which moved towards the anode, composed of soluble neutral polysaccharide. In 8 out of 56 cases a further protein-staining component with the same electrophoretic mobility as serum albumin was detected in the mucus. This protein was shown to be identical with serum albumin by immunological methods and in each case it was accompanied by serum globulins. Four samples with an albumin content of over 20% (the dye bound by albumin expressed as a percentage of the total bound dye but excluding the nonmigratory band) were from patients with proven carcinoma of the cervix, vagina, and endometrium. One sample with an albumin content of 20.7% was from a pregnant patient with uterine myomata. Three samples with an albumin content below 10% were from one patient with cervicitis and two pregnant patients.