Accumulation of Free Sialic Acid in the Mixture of whole Saliva and Sugar

Abstract

The amount of sialic-acid in whole saliva was determined by the thiobarbituric-acid method coupled with the ion exchange resin treatment. Total sialic content of whole saliva samples from 42 persons was equal to 4.5 [plus or minus] 1.7 mg/100 ml saliva. The amount of sialic-acid from the caries-active group was 1.6 times greater than that from the caries-resistant group, the difference between these groups is not significant. When saliva was incubated at 37[degree]C, bound sialic-acid decreased and free sialic-acid showed no increase. When incubated with 25 mg sucrose/ml saliva, free sialic-add increased greatly with incubation time, although there was no change in total sialic-acid. Free sialic-acid maximally accumulated in concentration from 5-25 mg sucrose/ml saliva.