52 L. FOWDEN AND D. O. GRAY 
two a-(methylcyclopropyl)glycine isomers (XV and XVI) produced during the hy- 
drogenation. 
Compound XIV was present only in the seeds of the fruits; no trace of XIV was 
found in the fleshy arils which form the edible portion of the fruit. A small scale 
survey of the leaves of some members of the Sapindaceae has been made but neither 
XIV nor hypoglycin A has been detected in twelve genera examined. The survey will 
be extended to seeds of other members of the family as they become available. 
The possibility that a-(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine exerts hypoglycaemic activity 
has been tested using mice. The limited amounts of material available prevented the 
TABLE III 
BLOOD-SUGAR LEVELS AND a- (METHYLENECYCLOPROPYL)GLYCINE 
Reducing sugars of blood taken from starved mice 6.5 h after subcutaneous 
injection of varying doses of a-(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine. 

a-(Methylenecyclopropyl) glycine Blood-sugar levels. 

injected (mg/kg body wt.) (mean of two determinations*, mg%) 
oO TOS pas 
oO Fp 
60 83 
130 62 
230 57 
400 39 

* Individual determinations show variations of + 2mg% about 
the mean values. 
** Values in the range 55-112 mg% have been observed by us for 
control starved animals in other experiments. 
use of larger animals such as rats, guinea-pigs and kittens used in the experiments 
with hypoglycin A (HASSALL AND REYLE**: 33; PATRICK*). Mice (approx. wt., 30 g) 
were starved for 22h and then solutions of a-(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine were 
injected subcutaneously. The amounts supplied ranged up to 400 mg/kg body wt. The 
mice were killed 6.5 h after receiving the injections. Blood-sugar levels determined 
are shown in Table III. A fairly clear progressive reduction of blood-sugar levels 
occurred as increasing doses were supplied to the mice. The general activity of the 
mice was related to the dose; the animals receiving the higher doses were moribund 
at the end of the 6.5-h period. The hypoglycaemic activity of a-(methylenecyclo- 
propyl)glycine is perhaps not quite as striking as that observed for hypoglycin A 
in rats (PATRICK**) but this may be due partly to varying species’ sensitivity. Obser- 
vations on the glycogen contents and the histology of the livers of mice receiving 
a-(methylenecyclopropyl)glycine are in progress. Higher doses produced livers which 
appeared much whiter and considerably enlarged when compared with those of control 
animals injected with water. 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 
We would like to acknowledge grants-in-aid for this work from the Central Research 
Fund of the University of London. D. O. Gray held an Agricultural Research Council 
References p. 53 
