CYSTINURIA 531 



Sasaki and Otsulka found that the following bacteria formed H 2 S 

 from cystein: coli, typhoid, paratyphoid, dysentery (Shiga-Kruse), dys- 

 entery (Flcxncr), mouse typhoid, chicken cholera, prodigiosus, Proteus 

 vulgaris, anthrax, subtilis, cholera, vib. Metclmikoff, vib. Finkler-Prior, 

 and Micr. tetragenus. The following yielded no H 2 S : fluorescens, pyo- 

 cyaneus, Staph. pyog. albus, Staph. pyog. aurcus, ajid Staph. pyog. citreus. 

 Mercaptan formation could not be detected. The staphylococci evolve 

 H..S from S and from proteins. All the bacteria evolve H 2 S from S 

 except fluorescens and pyocyaneus. No H 2 S was formed from taurin or 



According to Saxl bactericidal action of various mucosa secretions 

 of the body fluids is well known. The similar action of several un- 

 oxidized sulphur compounds suggested the possibility of cystin or cystein 

 compounds acting in this way in the organism. 



Feeding brombenzene to the dog leads to a conjugation with cystein 

 to form bromophenyl mercapturic acid. This acid and its salts are 

 about ten times as potent as phenol. Urine of the dogs fed with the 

 brombenzene was found to be bactericidal and required no added pre- 

 servative to remain sterile. On the other hand, the blood showed no 

 such property nor idid the addition of the acid to the blood render it 

 sterile. Saxl concludes that this is not the type of compound which 

 renders body fluids bactericidal. 



Loewi and Neuberg found that cystinuric subjects failed to oxidize 

 glycocoll well, 20 per cent appearing in the urine. Glycylglycin and 

 tyrosin are completely oxidized by the patients and are not to be found 

 in the urine after feeding them to the subjects. Williams and Wolff 

 reported that adding protein to the diet of a cystinuric patient in- 

 creased the output of cystin. Thiele found that starving the patient, 

 changing the diet or feeding cystin to the patient did not in any way 

 affect the daily excretion of cystin in the urine. Wolff and Shaffer, on 

 the contrary, could influence the metabolism by dieting their patient. 

 They found that with a nitrogen-poor diet, the rest-nitrogen was 16.4 

 per cent of the total nitrogen, whereas with a nitrogen-rich diet the rest- 

 nitrogen was 12.4 per cent of the total nitrogen. The neutral sulphur in 

 their case was 61 per cent of the total sulphur. When the patient was fed 

 cystein or cystin the ethereal sulphates were increased in the urine, show- 

 ing that the thio-amino-acids were oxidized. Hele also found that the 

 daily output of cystin (as determined by GaskelPs method), which in 

 his case amounted to 0.3 to 0.5 gm. daily, had no relation to the total 

 nitrogen or total sulphur excretion. Upon feeding cystin it was oxidized 

 and appeared in the urine as the sulphate. 



Stolte injected the cystin into the circulation of animals and he 

 found that it was excreted in the urine. He observed that the nitrogen 





