Salivary mucin MUC7 oligosaccharides in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis.

Objectives: The aetiology of recurrent aphthous stomatitis remains unknown. In this study, we investigate the composition of oligosaccharides from mucin MUC7 in recurrent aphthous stomatitis as these heavily O-glycosylated mucins confer many of saliva's protective properties such as defence against mucosal pathogens.

Materials And Methods: Unstimulated whole saliva samples were collected from six individuals, three with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and three corresponding sibling, without this condition.