﻿THE LYMPHAGOGIC ACTION OF THE PHILIPPINE MANGO, 

 MANGIFERA INDICA LINN^US 



By R. B. Gibson and Isabelo Concepci6n 



(From the Department of Physiology, College of Medicine and Surgery, 



University of the Philippines) 



The transient rashes occurring in the Philippines during the 

 hot season are often popularly ascribed to eating the Philippine 

 mango, Mangifera indica L., which ripens at this time. The 

 mango seems to intensify the ordinary "prickly heat" sjmiptoms, 

 and individuals in the Islands who have a tendency to this affec- 

 tion often find relief when they eliminate the fruit from their 

 dietary. We have also had occasion to observe that the nursing 

 child may be affected when mangos are eaten by the mother; 

 these observations will be reported in a separate paper by one 

 of us (Concepci6n) . 



The almost universal distribution of the mango in tropical 

 countries and the large part that the fruit shares in tropical 

 dietaries make the problem of "mango rash" an important one. 

 Such rashes are commonly ascribed to the mango by the Philip- 

 pine practioners of medicine, but we have been unable to find any 

 description of these effects in the literature. The present inves- 

 tigation was carried on to get some experimental evidence as to 

 whether or not the mango is to be classed with such rash-pro- 

 ducing substances as crustaceans, moUusks, etc., which Heiden- 

 hain ^ designated physiologically as lymphagogues of the first 

 class. 



The lymphagogues of the first class include "peptone," albu- 

 men, extracts of liver and intestine, and especially extracts of 

 crustaceans, mollusks, and leeches. The physiological effects are 

 a marked fall in blood pressure, an increased flow of lymph 

 richer in solids than the normal, an inhibition of the clotting 

 power of the blood, deep narcosis, anuria, and increased secretory 

 action of the pancreas, salivary glands, and liver. Subsequent 

 injections are progressively less effective. The apparent similar- 

 ity of the effects of the lymphagogues of the first class with 

 anaphylactic shock is of extreme interest. This similarity has 

 been repeatedly pointed out. 



^Arch. f. d. ges. Physiol. (Pfluger) (1891), 49, 209. 



503 



