82 (146) Society for Experimental Biology and Medicine. 



doses in proportion to its smaller molecular weight. Particulars 

 will be reported later. The authors emphasized the fact that 

 these salts are very poisonous when certain maximum doses are 

 exceeded. 



42 (88). " Enzymes and anti-enzymes of inflammatory exu- 

 dates " : EUGENE L. OPIE. 



Exudates obtained by injecting suspensions of aleuronat into 

 the pleural cavities of dogs and rabbits were subjected to autolysis. 

 The Kjeldahl method was used to determine the nitrogen of coag- 

 ulable proteins converted by digestion into soluble form. 



Inflammatory exudates removed one or two days after injection 

 of the irritant undergo very little change, while those removed 

 three or four days after the onset of inflammation exhibit appreci- 

 able though slight autolysis. There is no relation between the 

 amount of digestion and the number of cells which are present. 

 If the cells are separated by centrifugalization from the serum and 

 suspended in normal salt solution, well-marked autolysis is demon- 

 strable. By recombining cells and serum it can be shown that 

 the serum inhibits this autolysis. When this inhibitory action is 

 prevented by heating serum to ioo° C, leukocytes acting upon 

 the coagulated serum cause very active digestion. In the follow- 

 ing experiments nitrogen of uncoagulable substances is represented 

 by cubic centimeters of sulfuric acid : 



The anti-enzymotic action of the serum is unaffected by a 

 temperature of 65 0 C, but is prevented at 75 0 C. The proteolytic 

 ferments of the leukocytes act both in an acid and in an alkaline 

 medium, but are most efficient in the latter. The anti-enzymotic 

 action of the serum is favored by an alkaline reaction, but is com- 

 pletely prevented in an acid medium. The serum of the exudate 

 contains a proteolytic ferment, which is active only in an acid 



c.c 



' 10 



9-30 

 3.60 



7-25 



5 c.c. cells -j- 5 c.c. serum, at 37 0 C, 5 days 



Control 



5 c.c. cells -(- 5 c.c. coagulated serum, at 37 0 C, 5 days, 



10.95 

 10.85 

 23.10 



