94 



Scientific Proceedings (hi). 



43 (1625) 



Generalized infection in syphilitic rabbits resulting from the 

 inadequate salvarsan therapy. 



By J. Bronfenbrenner and M. J. Schlesinger. 



[From the Department of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene, Harvard 

 University Medical School, Boston.] 



In the course of study of the spirocheticidal action of salvarsan 

 in vitro it was observed that in very low concentrations, instead 

 of exerting inhibiting action, salvarsan markedly stimulated the 

 growth of spirochetes. 1 Later, on the bases of this observation 

 one of us recommended the use of minute amounts of salvarsan 

 in the medium for isolation of spirochetes in vitro. 2 At the same 

 time it was suspected that introducing minute amounts of salvarsan 

 might also stimulate the growth of spirochetes in vivo. Accord- 

 ingly a number of male rabbits with experimental syphilitic 

 orchitis as well as two infected females were treated with varying 

 amounts of salvarsan (from 0.004 gm. per kilo down to 0.000004 

 gm. per kilo) and several of them developed generalized infection* 

 whereas controls treated with large amounts (0.03 gm. per kilo 

 to 0.005 g m - P er kilo) or those left untreated showed no tendency 

 to generalized lues during at least 14 months following the date 

 of the experiment. In addition to the involvement of mucous 

 membranes, skin and bones two rabbits developed keratitis. 

 In one rabbit at the autopsy was found a gumma of the liver 

 which was confirmed as such by several pathologists. One of 

 the infected females lost her young twice and the progeny of the 

 third pregnancy was distinctly inferior and all of the four young 

 died within a month after birth. 



The work reported above was carried out at the Laboratories 

 of the Western Pennsylvania Hospital, Pittsburgh, in 1914-1916. 

 While a brief verbal mention of these findings was made at the 

 time 3 we have not thus far communicated our observations in 



1 Bronfenbrenner and Noguchi, Jour. Pharm. and Exp. Therapeutics, 1913, 

 U P- 333- 



2 Bronfenbrenner, Proc. Soc. Exp. Biol, and Med., 1915, xii, p. 136. 



3 Address before the Medical Society of St. Louis, January, 1915- 



