Oligosaccharides: an optional extra or of relevance to disease mechanisms in rheumatology?

I have discussed how oligosaccharides may be important to receptor ligand binding and how in some instances abnormalities can be detected in disease. Manipulating these structures offers the potential for developing novel therapeutic strategies, but perhaps more work is needed to define how subtle variations in these structures occur in normal physiology and how this relates to the pathophysiological mechanisms in disease.