Studies in meconium in cystic fibrosis: the activities of alpha-D-mannosidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-D-fucosidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase.

The specific activities of alpha-D-mannosidase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-D-fucosidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase were studied in meconium from infants with cystic fibrosis (CF) and control subjects. The study revealed significant variations in the specific activity of the enzymes except for acid phosphatase. The variations were not uniform. The activities of alpha-D-mannosidase, beta-glucuronidase and alkaline phosphatase were markedly decreased (p less than 0.001, p less than 0.002, p less than 0.001, respectively), while the activity of beta-D-fucosidase was significantly increased (p less than 0.001) in meconium from the infants with CF. It is suggested that the decreased activity of alpha-D-mannosidase and beta-glucuronidase might contribute to the accumulation of the abnormal substances in CF meconium. The highly increased activity of beta-D-fucosidase raises the possibility of an additional or alternative method for screening newborns for CF using meconium as the test material.