There is increasing evidence that rod‐shaped Gram negative anaerobic bacteria, as those belonging to black‐pigmented Bacteroides, may play a role in the pathogenesis of periodontal diseases. Anaerobic bacteria are known to produce, as end‐products of their metabolism, several volatile fatty acids, whose detection in clinical specimens by direct gas liquid chromatography (GLC) has been usefully utilized to demonstrate their presence in the infected site. The results obtained analyzing by GLC the gingival fluid collected from patients suffering from periodontal diseases are reported here. A good statistical correlation of the GLC profile has been found with the gingival index and the colonization by gram‐negative bacteria at each selected site. The data obtained strongly suggest that butyric acid may be considered a reliable marker of the severity of the disease, and its quantitative changes may be useful in following the clinical course of the process. The data correlate well with the biological activities of butyric acid, which have been reported to be abundant in plaque and to exert a cytotoxic activity on a variety of cells including gingival fibroblasts. No correlation has been found between gingival fluid flow rate and fatty acids profile in GLC. It can be concluded that GLC measures the overall metabolic activity of the bacterial population colonizing the subgingival area, while the rate of gingival fluid flow reflects the degree of the inflammatory response of the host. The combined use of the two laboratory tests should provide the clinician with more quantitative and reproducible parameters for monitoring the disease activity.

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Journal of Liquid ChromatographyPublication details, including instructions for authors and subscription information:ABSTRACT HPLC has been applied to the analysis of wine samples for the rapid determination of tartaric acid. Separation of carboxylic acids was performed on a LiChrosorb RP-18 column using a mixture of water, methanol and 0.05 M phosphoric acid (69:1:30) as mobile phase. Column eluates were monitored by UV absorbance at 210 nm. Tartaric, malic. lactic, acetic and tannic acids were revealed in the HPLC profile. Tartaric acid eluted as a well-resolved peak at 3.3 min. Mean recovery of known amounts of added tartrate ranges between 9 4 and 106%. The concentrations of tartaric acid in different European wines have been determined. The presence of tartaric acid can be related to the chemistry of nephrolithiasis: a high amount of this acid in the diet may be useful in preventing the recurrence of calcium oxalate stones in urine. The results of HPLC analyses appear to be interesting for the choice of a wine suitable for the diet of patients suffering from renal calculi. 2231

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