Low-molecular-weight carbohydrate-rich compounds in pregnancy urine.

The isolation and the chemical composition of two low-molecular-weight carbohydrate-rich fractions individualized in non-pregnant and pregnant women urine is reported. The first one is almost composed of glycopeptides whereas the second one gathers the major part of oligosaccharides. It is shown that at the 8th month of pregnancy, both fractions contain a larger amount of neutral hexoses, N-acetylneuraminic acid, N-acetylhexosamines 6-deoxyhexoses and aminoacids than in normal urine. Further, a discrimination is observed in the enhancement of each fraction. The increased amount of fraction 2 is observed as soon as the 17th week of pregnancy, whilst the amount of fraction 1 increases slowly from the 17th week until the end of pregnancy. Both fractions exhibit a tremendous increase of all carbohydrates, one week after delivery. The increased amount of glycopeptide material could be related to glycoproteins catabolism, and the increased amount of oligosaccharide material could be related to the mammary tissue metabolism.