Protein in meconium from meconium ileus.

Meconium ileus is the earliest manifestation of cystic fibrosis, and several investigations have been undertaken to determine its cause. In 1952, Buchanan and Rapoport showed that the ash content of abnormal meconium was twice as high as that ofnormal newborns, and that whereas normal meconium consisted of only 7% protein, this rose to 85% in meconium ileus. We here show that the proteins concerned have similar electrophoretic mobility to normal serum proteins as well as to those found in amniotic fluid, and that their presence can be detected by a simple side-room test.