The standardisation of insulin by the determination of the convulsive dose for mice / by J.W. Trevan and Ellen Boock.

  • Trevan, J. W. (John William)
Date:
[1926?]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: The standardisation of insulin by the determination of the convulsive dose for mice / by J.W. Trevan and Ellen Boock. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Extract from Document C. H. 398 published by the j <^i Health Organisation of the League of Nations: ^ THE BIOLOGICAL STANDARDISATION /of OF INSULIN p, 4Y^Q 1 8 7 8. THE STANDARDISATION OF INSULIN BY THE DETERMINATION OF THE CONVULSIVE DOSE FOR MICE By J. W. Trevan and Ellen Boock (Wellcome Physiological Research Laboratories, Beckenham, Kent). The obvious simplicity of using convulsions as an indicator in the assay of insulin has led to the development of several convul¬ sion methods”; one, of which the most complete description has been published, is that of Voegtlin. We have been using mice for the standardisation of insulin since the early part of 1923, and have gradually arrived at the method described below in detail in which some 30 mice of a given stock are injected with a standard sample of insulin and 30 others with the batch of insulin under investigation. The animals are kept during the test at 38°C. and the comparison of the percentages showing convulsions within a limited time enables a determination of the activity of the batch under test to be made. The method gives results parallel to those of the rabbit test and we use it as a routine for all our tests. Method. Mice are fed, preferably for at least a week after receipt, on white bread and excess of milk. They are kept in batches of 200 in large cages, 5' X 3' X 1', with perforated zinc tops. The animals required are removed to an empty cage at 5 p.m. on the day previous to a test and deprived of food. During the test, which is made at any time from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., the mice are kept in zinc boxes about 5 cube, which are for three-quarters of their height immersed in a water bath at 38°G. The boxes are covered with glass lids and perforations are made around the top of the walls for ventilation (Fig. 1). The apparatus should be shielded from draughts. The mice are injected subcutaneously with a dilution of insulin in a dose of 0.0075 to 0.01 clinical units per 20-gram body- weight. Immediately after the injection the mice are transferred to the heated boxes, six mice in a box, of which three are injected with the insulin, the activity of which is under investigation, and three with a dose of some standard sample of insulin. Sixty mice are put up at each test and four tests in all are made. The number of animals whioh show symptoms or die during two hours is then S. d. N. (reimp.) 7/26. Imp. Kundig.