TRYPSIN PREPARATIONS SUITABLE FOR THE PREVENTION OF ADHESIONS

¹ Department of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orleans

By pressure filtration of water-glycerine solutions of trypsin, bacteria-free preparations are conveniently obtained, their activity being sufficiently stable for the purposes described. Subsequent precipitation with alcohol and ether yields dry preparations, which are more suitable from the standpoint of stability but less suitable from the standpoint of convenience. The activity of these glycerine extracts is defined in such way as to facilitate duplication or comparison. Their effectiveness in preventing the formation of peritoneal adhesions is shown to approximately parallel the results obtained by Ochsner, Mason and Garside. Although the animals treated in this way recover uneventfully, a certain amount of blood appears in the peritoneal cavity upon introduction of trypsin solutions. This is considered one of the factors causing the rapid inactivation of trypsin in the peritoneum. Apparently the blood can act as an automatic check against extensive damage by large overdoses of trypsin.