STUDIES ON THE MECHANISM OF THE PROTECTIVE ACTION OF XANTHINE AGAINST CARBON TETRACHLORIDE POISONING

¹ Department of Biochemistry, Medical College of Virginia, Richmond, Va.

1. The subcutaneous injection into rats of substances known to exert a protective action against chloroform or carbon tetrachloride, such as xanthine, india ink, tricalcium phosphate and sodium ricinoleate all cause a marked drop in the serum esterase concentration.

2. The injection of inactive substances such as sodium chloride, peptone and sodium bicarbonate does not cause a drop in the concentration of serum esterase.

3. Control animals poisoned with carbon tetrachloride show a marked rise in the concentration of serum esterase while animals previously protected with xanthine do not exhibit this rise.

4. Administration of a high fat diet to rats, a condition known to increase an animal's suceptibility to carbon tetrachloride and chloroform, causes a marked rise in the serum esterase value. However, the rise in the serum esterase does not seem to bear any definite relation to the lipid content of the liver.

5. It is suggested that the drop in serum esterase as well as the increased resistance of the liver to these poisons is associated with a repair process taking place at the site of injection, this repair being manifested either by a walling off of the injected material, as in the case of xanthine, or by replacement of destroyed tissue, as in the case of sodium ricinoleate.