AUTOLYSIS IN PATHOLOGICAL PROCESSES 101 



tberia toxin, while tuberculin is destroyed by trypsin, but not 

 readily by pepsin, possibly because it is of a nucleoproteid 

 nature. 



On the other hand, there are many pathogenic bacteria which 

 do not secrete their toxic materials, but store them up within the 

 cell body, e. g., typhoid, cholera, and, indeed, the majority of 

 pathogenic forms. These endotoxins are probably liberated from 

 the bacteria only through digestion of their cells, either by their 

 own autolytic enzymes,* or by the enzymes of the infected tissues 

 and leucocytes. 



I/eukemia. The abundant elimination of uric acid and 

 other purin bodies in the urine in leukemia testifies to the great 

 amount of destruction of nucleoproteid that is going on during 

 the disease, and this is probably derived from the autolysis of 

 leucocytes. Schumm 1 has studied the autolytic changes in a 

 spleen from a case of acute leukemia (variety not stated) with 

 the following results : The leukemic spleen immediately after 

 death contains much proteose, and this soon disappears, while 

 leucin, tyrosin, lysin, and ammonia appear, and the proteid con- 

 stituents disappear. In a later communication 2 he reported the 

 findings in the autolyzed spleens of two cases of splenomyelog- 

 enous leukemia. He detected among the products guanin, 

 xanthin, hypoxanthin, histidiu, lysin, alanin, leucin, tyrosin, 

 thymin, paralactic acid, and ammonia ; adenin and arginin were 

 not found. Autolysis of the leukemic bone-marrow produced 

 tyrosin, leucin, and tryptophan. In fresh leukemic blood he 

 found much albumose as well as an enzyme digesting casein in 

 alkaline medium. Autolysis of the leukemic spleen is more 

 complete than that of the normal spleen, v. Jaksch, 3 Erben, 4 

 and others have noted the occurrence of peptones and albu- 

 moses in leukemic blood, particularly if removed postmortem. 

 The improvement in leukemia that follows x-ray treatment is 

 associated with an increased nitrogen elimination, probably due 

 to autolysis of disintegrating cells. 5 (See also " Leukemia," 

 Chap, xi.) 



Tumors. Probably because of the great amount of necro- 

 sis that is constantly going on in all malignant growths, with 

 subsequent digestion of the dead cells, autolytic products are 

 present in them in very considerable amounts. This was first 



1 Hofmeister's Beitr., 1903 (3), 576. 



2 Ibid., 1905 (7), 175. 



3 Zeit. f. physiol. Chem., 1892 (16), 243. 



* Zeit. f. klin. Med., 1900 (40), 282 ; Zeit. f. Heilkunde, 1903 (24), 70 ; Hof- 

 meister's Beitr., 1904 (5), 461. 



5 Musser and Edsall, Univ. Penn. Med. Bull., 1905 (18), 174. 



