Test for mucopolysaccharidoses: simple method for quantitative estimation of urinary glycosaminoglycans.

A simple method is described for measurement of urinary glycosaminoglycans (GAG) in normal and pathological urine: a fixed fraction of the 24-h urine is passed over a small plug of ECTEOLA-modified cellulose and the GAG are eluted with a few milliliters of NaCI solution (3 mol/liter) and measured as hexuronic acid. Because results are compared for equal aliquots of complete 24-h urines, GAG are quickly detected, thus providing means for a chemical diagnosis of mucopolysaccharidosis. The procedure requires less than 1 h, and several tests may be conveniently run simultaneously. When urine specimens collected from normal children or children affected by mucopolysaccharidosis were analyzed, the results obtained with the proposed procedure agree well with those of more elaborate, widely accepted methods.