Lipid Composition of Submandibular Saliva from

The submandibular saliva of patients with cystic fibrosis was found to contain about 66 % more lipids/100 ml of saliva than that of normal individuals and exhibited elevated levels of neutral lipids, phospholipids, and glycolipids. No significant differences were noted in the proportions of individual neutral lipid and phospho-lipid components present in both types of samples. The glyco-lipids of normal saliva consisted entirely of glyceroglucolipids, whereas those of cystic fibrosis saliva, in addition to glyceroglu-colipids, also contained small amounts of glycosphingolipids. These quantitative and qualitative differences may affect the physico-chemical properties of the secretion