THE ABSORPTION OF SULPHONAMIDES IN THE CHICK AND THE CANARY, AND ITS RELATIONSHIP TO ANTIMALARIAL ACTIVITY

¹ From the Wellcome Laboratories of Tropical Medicine, London, England

1. Determinations of the absorption from the gut, whole blood concentration curves ("free" and "total") and red cell concentration curves ("free") of sulphanilamide and eleven derivatives in the chick and the canary show that these drugs are absorbed more quickly and are excreted more quickly from the blood in canaries than in chicks. Red cell concentration curves are, in most cases, higher in the canary than in the chick.

2. These drugs show pronounced activity against Plasmodium gallinaceum infections in chicks, but are mostly inactive against P. cathemerium in canaries.

3. Generally speaking, the degree of antimalarial activity of these drugs in chicks may be correlated with the height of the blood concentration curves. In canaries, similar concentrations are inactive, but there is evidence that P. cathemerium would be inhibited if a sufficiently high blood concentration could be maintained.