Gout : its pathology and treatment / by Arthur P. Luff.

  • Arthur P. Luff
Date:
1898
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Gout : its pathology and treatment / by Arthur P. Luff. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    CHAPTER III. Seat or seats offormation of uric acid—Uric acid not a normal constituent of the blood—Pathological con- ditions under which uric acid appears in the blood. VIEW THAT THE KIDNEYS FORM AS WELL AS EXCRETE URIC ACID. Until 1847 it was supposed that uric acid was formed in the kidneys themselves, as up to that time none had ever been detected in the blood. In that year Sir. Alfred Garrod demon- strated the presence of uric acid in the blood of gouty subjects, which discovery led to the con- clusion that uric acid was formed in certain other organs and tissues of the body, and was merely eliminated by the kidneys. The view that then arose was that the uric acid eliminated in the urine originated in the system by the metabolism of the nitrogenised tissues, and was then thrown out by the kidneys. Sir Alfred Garrod* originally held this view, but in later years he came to the con- clusion that uric acid is produced by the direct action of the kidneys from urea and other nitro- genised bodies contained in the blood and con- veyed to the kidneys. From the experimental evidence that he has put forward, Sir Alfred * Transactions of the Royal Medical and Ohirurgical Society, 1818, p. 93.