P Mucus

Examination of microsamples of crypts, the cells of which were not able to take over an L crypt, presented some new results. The crystals were not needle-shaped nor did they have rectangular branching. The branching was hexagonal (Figure 9) and the crystals were very thin. Re-exaniination of the slides obtained during complete cycles indicated that this mucus was usually present in maximum amount on the Peak day. The new mucus was called P (- peak) mucus.

In the years following 1985 several young women 15-22 years old who were students at the university or high school wished to be taught how to chart their cycles. Most of them also wished to have a gynaecological examination and their mucus was placed on slides and examined. I was astonished at the large amounts of P mucus in these young, women. I had often observed that a large area of the slide was covered with P mucus, especially on the Peak day and. the day before the Peak. In these cases the women described their sensation as extremely lubricative during these same two days.

Figure 9. Comparison of P6 mucus with Pa mucus in a sample spread out on a Microscope slide. In P6 mucus the crystals are present in hexagonal star-shaped formation. In Pa mucus crystals are present in plume-shaped formation or are irregular in shape.

After the P mucus was identified and characterized in 1990 I found, on reading medical journals, that crystals of this mucus had already been photographed by several authors, for example Roland (1958) and again by Rydberg (1948), the one who first described the crystallization of mucus. In 1991, I found (see Odeblad 1994) that P mucus had two functions: (i) a mucolytic activity, variant Pa; (ii) a capacity to conduct sperm cells from the S crypts to the uterine cavity, variant P6. These two variants are illustrated in Figure 9.

I found that the mucolytic activity is effected by an enzyme which is associated with granules (spheres) about 1µm in size (cf. Figures 6b and 10) which adhere to the P mucus.

Also the granules have the capacity to aggregate and form annular or stellate shapes (Figure 6b). This granular secretion is termed Z secretion (cf. z in the word enzyme).This secretion which is produced by the glands (or crypts) of the isthmus, probably does not vary during the cycle, and may contain other enzymes or biochemical substances as well. Recent studio indicate, however, that Z cells may also be present in the cervical canal proper.

Figure 10. Scanning electron microscope pictures of a sample of P6 mucus (left) and Pa mucus (right) spread out on a microscope slide. P6 mucus shows hexagonal branches and some granules (round, white spheres). x 1000. Pa mucus shows some granules (round, dark spheres). x 7500. Pictures taken by Dr Mikaela Menarguez, Department of Cellular Biology, University of Murcia, Spain, in collaboration with the author.

Proton NMR spectroscopy indicates that the molecular composition of the various types of mucus are different (Figure 11). Studies of microsamples obtained from different locations in the cervical canal demonstrate that the various types of crypts have "preferred locations" (Figure 12). Both the macromolecular networks and the crypt locations are thus specific for each type of mucus.

Figure 11. Proton NMR spectra of five types of cervical mucus - F, P, G+, L and S. All spectra are different, indicating that the compositions of the five mucus types are all different.

Figure 12. Distribution and macromolecular composition of cervical mucus types S, L, G and P, and the Z secretion from the isthmus.