The constituents of acid mucopolysaccharides in the gingiva of patients with periodontal disease were studied using two dimensional electrophoresis on cellulose acetate strips. The result of electrophoresis indicated that the gingiva of patients with periodontal disease contained hyaluronic acid (HA), chondroitin sulphate A (Chs A), dermatan sulphate (DS), heparan sulphate (HS) and heparin (HP). And, the amounts of HA, Chs A, DS and HS were 32.3%, 22.7%, 40.1%, and 4.9% of the total acid mucopolysaccharides, respectively.
Heparin was not found quantitatively.
Careful comparison was made between the free gingiva as a severely diseased tissue and the attached gingiva as a least diseased one.
It has been demonstrated that HA, Chs A in a higher level and DS in a lower level in the free gingival tissue in comparison with the attached gingival tissue.
