66 



HANDBOOK OF PHYSIOLOGY 



CIRCULATION I 



Pectin 



Hartman (47) depolymerized pectin by heat at 

 212° F for 24 hours. The molecular weight of the 

 compound used was 40,000 to 70,000. Seven intra- 

 venous injections of 0.3 g/kg into mice resulted in 

 retention of pectin in the reticuloendothelial cells and 

 in the parenchyma of the liver, and renal tubules. 

 Popper et al. (85) gave to patients pectin in .saline, 

 molecular weight 45,000 to 60,000, in amounts of 

 I to 9 liters. Pectin appeared to be stained as a 

 structureless material in the splenic pulp with re- 

 sultant splenomegaly. It was found in the Kupffer 

 cells and portal triads, in glomerular loops and in 

 renal tubules. The pectin was stained in this study 

 by ruthenium red, supposedly specific for pectin. 

 The histologic picture resembled that of amyloidosis 

 but the material was not believed to be amyloid on 

 staining. The tissue changes with pectin were more 

 extensive than those seen with comparable amounts 

 of gelatin which was administered as a 5 % solution 

 with an average molecular weight of 35,000 in saline 

 and dextrose in amounts of i to 10 liters. Handford 

 and associates (45) used 4% glycerol pectate of 4.4 

 viscosity. The pectin was obtained from lemon rind. 

 They gave approximately 5 % body weight equivalent 

 to normal dogs. No gross or microscopic evidence of 

 pathologic changes in the tissues or organs of animals 

 were seen following large single or multiple infusions 

 of glycerol pectate. These authors believed that 

 autoclaving the pectin prevented histologic changes 

 described after unautoclaved pectin. The plasma 

 concentration was negligible at 12 hours; at 48 hours 

 45% of the pectin was recovered in the urine. The 

 fate of the glycerol pectate not recovered in the urine 

 was unknown. Bryant et al. (19) used pectin (mol wt 

 150,000 to 300,000) in 0.85% saline. This was given 

 intravenously to rabbits, on alternate days for 2 

 months, with a total of 1 5 g of pectin per 4 kg rabbit. 

 At necropsy, no abnormalities were seen in the liver, 

 spleen, kidney, heart, lungs, or digestive tract. There 

 was no evidence of storage of pectin in the liver or 

 kidney. There was no pectin in the blood 7 days after 

 the last injection. 



Gelatin 



Waters (109) infused bled dogs with isingla.ss or 

 gelatin. There was no isinglass nitrogen in the blood 

 at 9.5 to 18 hours, whereas gelatin was still present 

 in appreciable amounts at 24 hours, leading the author 

 to believe the gelatin was superior as a plasma 

 expander. Hartman (47) injected mice with seven 



intravenous injections each of 1.8 ml/ kg of 6% 

 osseous gelatin which produced gelatin nephrosis of 

 brief duration. Frawley and associates (34) infused 

 ten wounded soldiers with Knox gelatin (average 

 mol wt 34,000). The total amount infused was i to 3 

 liters at an average rate of 300 ml of gelatin in 2.5 

 hours. Six hours after the infusion 23% of the gelatin 

 remained in the circulation. At this time 60% of the 

 gelatin had appeared in the urine; at 72 hours, 75% 

 of the gelatin had appeared in the urine. Gray and 

 Pulaski (40) gave 200 ml of 5% oxypolygelatin in 

 saline to phlorhizinized starved dogs with a constant 

 D/N ratio. The D/N ratio in the urine increased 

 after infusion, suggesting metabolism of oxypolygelatin 

 to glucose. Gordon and associates (37) used 8% or 

 10% bone gelatin in 0.9% saline. Dogs were infused 

 with 40 ml/kg body weight after bleeding, and were 

 infused again 9 to 1 1 weeks later. At postmortem 

 they showed no evidence of thrombosis, embolism, 

 hemolysis, or capillary damage, and there were no 

 other pathologic changes seen. Jacobson & Smyth 

 (60) used 5% osseous gelatin in isotonic sodium 

 chloride (Upjohn). They gave 56 injections of 450 

 to 1000 ml each to 45 human subjects. At 24 hours 

 87% of the injected amount had disappeared from 

 the blood. The average urine recovery was 76 % in 24 

 hours and 81.3% in 48 hours. In 3 autopsied patients 

 no tissue changes were seen. The blood amino acids 

 did not change and the authors thought gelatin was 

 probably not metabolized. HofTman & Kozoll (49) 

 gave 1000 ml of 5% osseous gelatin to each of 42 

 hospital subjects. There were appreciable plasma 

 levels at 48 and 72 hours. By 72 hours 80 ''c of the 

 gelatin was excreted in the urine. 



Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PJ 'P) 



Hartman (47) injected 3.5 'Jc- P\'P in saline into 

 mice. At autopsy he found foam cells in the lymph 

 nodes, granules and vacuoles in the li\er, kidney, 

 adrenals, bone marrow, lung, and blood vessels. 

 He concluded that P\'P was stored more rapidly and 

 in larger quantities than either dextran, gelatin, or 

 pectin. Steel and associates (97) gave i ml of 3.5% 

 PV'P solution intravenously to mice. The P\'P was 

 tagged with carbon- 14. These authors recovered 76 to 

 77% of the PVP in 58 days, mostly in the urine but 

 some in the feces. Virtually none was found in the 

 expired air; however, at 58 days only 15 to 16% of 

 the PVP was found still in the carcass. The authors 

 estimate that this would have been excreted in 217 

 to 232 days. They concluded that P\'P which was not 



