536 AIi.\URMALITIJ:,S 1\ inrrABOLLSM 



being- foreign to the maternal organism in so far as they are derived 

 from the ovum, give rise to the production of antibodies {syncytioly- 

 si)is) by the mother, which are toxic for pregnant animals (Ascoli), 

 and which may have to do with eclampsia in some unknown way. 

 Kosenau and Anderson found that guinea pigs could be made anaphy- 

 lactic to guinea-pig placenta, showing conclusively that the placenta 

 contains i)roteins foreign to the motlier. Attempts to establish the 

 anaphylactic nature of eclampsia have, like so many other theories, 

 foundered on the fact of the characteristic anatomy of this disease, 

 wliich is never seen in anaphylaxis.^'* The studies of Abderhalden 

 have shown that the blood of ever}' pregnant female animal contains 

 enzj'mes which have a specific proteolytic action, and so the possibility 

 exists that abnormal or excessive products of such proteolj^sis, or a 

 lack of adequate defensive digestive action, may be responsible for 

 the toxemias of pregnanc3^ Esch " and Franz ^^ have, indeed, found 

 evidence of the presence in the serum and urine of eclamptics, of sub- 

 stances resembling anaphylactic poisons in their action, and presum- 

 ably derived from proteolysis somewhere in the body. Franz found 

 That if the poison injures the kidneys seriously it is retained in the 

 bod;,', the urine ceasing to be toxic, wliich has, presumably, a relation 

 to the toxicosis of eclampsia.^^ 



Liepman " and others have reported the finding of a considerable 

 degree of toxicity in eclamptic placentas, but this is probably related 

 to the increased autolysis observed in eclamptic placentas by Dry- 

 fuss.'*^ According to Mohr and Heimann,^''^ the eclamptic placenta 

 shows a great decrease in lecithin, which they ascribe to the increased 

 autolysis, and to the hydrolyzed lecithin they attribute the hemotoxic 

 effects. On the other hand JMurray and Bienenfeld ''^ report the find- 

 ing of an increased amount of lipoids in eclamptic placenta.''" 



The Fetus as a Source of Intoxication. — A reasonable view of the 

 cause of eclampsia is that it is initiated by the excessive products 



48 See Felliinflcr. Zoit. Gelj. u. Gvn., 1911 (68), 26; :\rosbaclicr. Dent. med. 

 Woch., 1911 (37), ]()-21. However, Vertes (Monat. (ieb. u. Gyn., 1914 (40), 361, 

 4(il' ) states tliat animals dyiiij^ from aiiajihylaxis may sliow typieal eelainptic 

 tissue clianges, whieli is not in accordance willi tlie observations of manv otliers. 



49Miincli. med. Wocli., 1912 (59), 461. 



50lhid., pajje 1702. 



51 Hull and Ehodenlmrfj (Amer. Jour. Obst., 1914 (70), 919) ascribe impor- 

 tance to leucine derived from proteolysis of the placental elements, while Kiutsi 

 (Zeit. Gel), u. ^iyn., 1912 (72), 57(i) considei-s the nuclcins of the {)lacenta llie 

 toxic ajjents; both statements beinfj unconlirn\ed and improbable. 



■•sMiinch. med. Woch., 1905 (52), (;S7 and 24S4; ]?oos, P.oslon .Med. and Surj;. 

 Jour., 1908 (158), 612. 



•"]?iochem. Zeit., 1908 (7), 493. 



5iJbid., 1912 (4(i), 367. 



55Jour. Obst. and Cvn. Urit. Empire, 1!»1() (18). 225; lii.nlicm. Zcil.. 1912 

 (43), 245. 



•''« The hypothesis of ^lohr and I'rcund llial oleic aejd fidiii llic cehun])tic 

 placenta is a hcniohiic fa<'1nr, is not corroborated bv I'olano (Zeit. <ieb. u. Gvn., 

 1910 (65), 581). 



