There are only a few reports concerning analyses of the protein components in the uterine cervical fluid. This is probably related to the difficulties of collecting the cervical fluid continuously and in significant amounts. In order to solve these problems, we developed a simple filter-disc-absorption method. Cervical fluid (CF) was adsorbed by a Whatman GF/B glass fiberdisc. It was then applied directly to the electrophoresis. Using this method, protein fractions and phosphorylase or lactate dehydrogenase isoenzymes in the CF of various gynecological states were investigated.
1. The CF from pregnant women in the first trimester as well as normal cycle shows weak protein fractions. As the pregnancy progress, especially after 30 gestational weeks, albumin and prealbumin levels are increased.
2. The CF obtained from patients with myoma of the uterine body and cancer of the uterine cervix contains a large amount of protein in comparison with that obtained from pregnant or normal cycle women. The electrophoretic pattern in the former cases resembles that of serum protein, especially in the cases with high protein content. However, no characteristic electrophoretic patterns which could be used to determine diseases or their severity were demonstrated.
3. Two phosphorylase bands were evident in CF from patients with the myoma and cancer. We called them the fast and the slow migrating phosphorylare bands (F-band and S-band). In the cases of cancer, the S-band was predominant, while in the cases of myoma, the F-band predominated. From these results, it was suggested that the distribution of the two phosphorylases could be used to differentiate between myoma and cervical cancer.
4. The distribution of LDH isoenzyme in the CF and in the serum of the same woman was different. The activities of LDH1, LDH2, LDH3 isoenzymes were greater in the CF than in the serum. However, characteristic LDH-isoenzyme patterns of CF for typical gynecological diseases can not be determined.
