THE NASTIN TREATMENT OF LEPROSY/ 



By OscAB Teague. 

 {From the Biological Laboratory, Bureau of Science, Manila, P. I. 



In 1904 Deycke Pasche and Eeschad Bey - of the Imperial Hospital 

 and Medical School of Constantinople;, while attempting to cultivate the 

 leprosy bacillus^ obtained a streptothrix in pure culture to which they 

 gave the name Streptothrix leproides. The culture was made by laying 

 back a flap of skin containing a leprous nodule and excising a piece of 

 tissue from the under surface of the flap. The tissue was placed in 

 salt solution and kept at incubator temperature. After three weeks 

 the filaments of the streptothrix were seen growing from th€ tissue in 

 great profusion. 



With the idea of determining whether or not this streptothrix bore 

 any relationship to the leprosy bacillus, the living culture was injected 

 subcutaneously in a very severe case of leprosy. Strange to say, this 

 j)atient showed marked improvement in his subjective symptoms and 

 requested that the treatment be continued. Accordingly injections were 

 given at seven-day intervals and after two months the patient considered 

 himself cured and left the hospital. Similar results were obtained in 

 three other cases. 



The streptothrix was then grown in large quantities and the protein 

 substances of the culture separated from the fats by extraction with 

 ether. On injecting these two portions separately into patients, the 

 authors came to the conclusion that the etherial extract contained the 

 curative agent. Finally they believed that they had isolated this active 

 principle and that it was a true fat — a glyceride of one of the higher 

 fatty acids. To this fat they gave the name "nastin." The authors 

 claimed that subcutaneous injections of this substance produced a specific 

 action on leprous nodules, causing inflammation with subsequent soften- 

 ing. This reaction was sometimes accompanied by high fever lasting 

 for days. 



^Read at the Sixth Annual Meeting of the Philippine Medical Association, 

 Manila, P. I., February 11, 1909. 



'Deutsche vied. Wchnsch. (1905), 31, 488. 



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