8o 



Scientific Proceedings (89). 



156 (1334) 



Does the liver secrete a catalase accelerator? 



By Theodore C. Burnett. 



[From the Rudolph Spreckels Physiological Laboratory of the 

 University of California.] 



All observers are agreed that the catalytic activity of the liver 

 is far in excess of that of muscle, and it is generally assumed, I 

 think, that this is because the liver contains more catalase. As- 

 suming the liver to be five times more active than muscle, a mix- 

 ture of muscle and liver in the proportion of five to one ought to 

 give the same catalytic activity as double the quantity of muscle 

 alone. This is not the case, as the following experiment shows. 



A 50 per cent, solution of commercial hydrogen peroxide, repre- 

 senting 1.5 per cent. H 2 0 2 , was used. The oxygen was collected 

 over water in the usual way, and the volume reduced to o° and 

 760 mm. Hg. The time was 10 minutes. 



1 gm. rat's muscle gave 50 c.c. oxygen. 



1 gm. rat's liver gave 244 c.c. oxygen. 



0.5 gm. muscle +0.1 gm. liver gave 250 c.c. oxygen. 



To be on the safe side, the assumption has here been made that 

 the liver is five times as active as the muscle, yet the mixture, 

 instead of having the activity of the muscle, has the activity of the 

 liver. 



Assuming the liver to be ten times as active as muscle, the fol- 

 lowing combination was made: 0.5 gm. muscle +0.1 gm. liver. 

 This combination gave 224 c.c. of oxygen. 



Blood clot -+- muscle gives similar results, and to a less extent, 

 spleen also. The difficulty of getting spleen free from blood com- 

 plicates the matter. 



The above facts appear to be certain. The interpretation is 

 not so clear, but it may be the liver secretes an accelerator of 

 catalase, perhaps in the nature of an internal secretion; and it may 

 be it is this accelerator that causes the catalase activity to vary in 

 the different tissues and organs. 



