Screening for urinary oligosaccharides: a quantitative procedure.

A method for screening urine for abnormalities in glycoconjugate excretion is presented. An oligosaccharide-containing fraction is isolated from urine by gel chromatography and the carbohydrate-containing components in this fraction are degraded to monosaccharides, suitable derivatives of which are analyzed by gas-liquid chromatography. A pattern which characterizes the monosaccharides originating in complex carbohydrates in urine is thus obtained. Data obtained by applying this method to normal subjects in various age groups are presented and the applicability of the method and its limitations are illustrated by the use of examples from patients with previously diagnosed disorders of glycoconjugate metabolism.