102 THE TOXINS OF THE HIGHER PLANTS AND ANIMALS 



strength. Probably the normal organism is so regulated that it compensates 

 for any increased amount of antiferment. 



Till recent times the demonstration of antiferments bore no clinical 

 Antitrypsin. interest. The antibodies of the proteolytic enzymes first began to attract 



attention when the inhibitory influence which blood serum has upon 

 the autolysis of organs was proven. It was Jochmann and Muller who showed in 

 connection with their studies of the proteolytic ferments of leucocytes, that apart 

 from these, the serum itself possesses an inhibitory influence upon the leucocyte fer- 

 ment. This is found to be especially marked in diseases associated with great destruc- 

 tion of leucocytes. Following them, Marcus, as well as Brieger and Trebing, discovered 

 a restraining influence in the serum upon the action of pancreas trypsin and proved 

 that the so-called antitrypsin was considerably increased in carcinoma patients. 

 Bergmann and Meyer, also working along these lines, then demonstrated that the 



wrongly called "carcinoma reaction" was by no means specific for car- 

 Brieger's cinoma, but was found in a large number of other diseases. It cannot, 

 Cachexia as Brieger later announced, even be considered as a criterion for cachexia 

 Reaction, (cachexia reaction). 



Undoubtedly, the already normal antiproteolytic power of the serum 

 can be considerably increased in animal experimentation by a group of well-known pro- 

 teolytic agents, and especially by leucocyte ferment and pancreatic trypsin. To differ- 

 entiate between antileucocyte and antitrypsin ferment in the narrow sense of the word, 

 is impossible. The one "immune serum" (sit venia verbo, if one can speak of immune 

 serum in this sense) neutralizes the other antigen. Clinically a high and tryptic titer 

 of the serum is found in about 90 per cent, of carcinoma patients, and is almost regu- 

 larly observed in infections with high fevers as typhoid, severe articular rheumatism, 

 sepsis, etc. In penumonia there is found during the infection a marked change from 

 an excessively high to a low titer. In Morbus Basedowii (as well as in experimental 

 thyroid feeding) it is almost the rule to find a high antitrypsin content, but one must 

 always keep in mind that even few normal individuals show a similar increase. 



The clinical diagnostic importance of the antitrypsin titer is slight in comparison 

 with its experimental increase. In accord with the findings in Basedow's disease, and in 

 thyroid feeding it may be considered as an outcome of increased proteid destruction 

 (hyper-production of proteolytic ferments in the tissues ?) . Leucocyte ferment has been 

 found of practical use in the treatment of cold abscesses, i.e., in processes where lympho- 

 cytosis and failure to produce polynuclear leucocyte ferment is present. On the 

 other hand antitrypsin or antileucocyte ferment or even normal serum is employed to 

 counteract inflammatory processes, i.e., to neutralize the excessive production of the 

 leucocyte ferments, with apparent success (Leucoantifermentin, on the market). 

 According to recent findings, the antitrypsin titer of the mother's blood increases 

 markedly during the period of labor, while that of the fetus remains unaltered. 



There are two methods for the antitrypsin determination. The first 

 was devised by Jochmann and Muller for proving the presence of leucocyte 

 ferment and its antiferment, and then similarly employed by Marcus in the 

 study of pancreatic ferments. Its principle depends upon the digestive 

 action of proteolytic ferments upon serum albumin. When a drop of 

 trypsin is placed upon a LofHer's serum plate, after a little while, a clear 

 spot appears where the trypsin was brought into contact with the plate. 



