Studies on the formation of glycocoll in the body. III / by Albert A. Epstein and Samuel Bookman.

  • Epstein, Albert Arthur, 1880-1965.
Date:
1914
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Studies on the formation of glycocoll in the body. III / by Albert A. Epstein and Samuel Bookman. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    feeding carbohydrates. The latter, as pointed out in an earlier paper,3 lessens the total nitrogenous metabolism, without interfer- ing with the efficiency of the benzoic acid to cause the production of glycocoll. In the present investigation an attempt is made to ascertain three points: 1. The effect of feeding a simple amino-acicl (alanine), alone and together with benzoic acid, upon the general protein metab- olism and the formation of glycocoll. 2. The effect of feeding benzoyl-alanine upon the same phenomena. 3. The mechanism involved in the metabolism of a benzoylated nitrogen-free substance, and the formation of glycocoll. As in our previous experiments, the tests were made on rabbits. Owing to the peculiar nature and the slight solubility of the ben- zoyl compounds (benzoyl-alanine and benzoyl-glucose) these substances were administered in powder form, per os. Certain errors may have crept in from this method of experimentation, but the uniformity of the results obtained justifies the belief that errors, if any, are negligible. The first experiment comprises two series of nine three-day periods, in which the effect of benzoic acid and f-alanine singly and jointly was studied (condensed tables 1 and 2). The effect of feeding benzoyl-alanine was also tested. As in our previous experiments, so too in the present tests it was found that the simple administration of benzoic acid causes a marked rise in the elimination of hippuric acid (tables 1 and 2, period 2). The administration of alanine alone causes a rise in the total nitrogen output (equivalent to the nitrogen of. the alanine), but is without effect upon the hippuric acid output (cf. periods 3 and 4, tables 1 and 2). The simultaneous administration of alanine and benzoic acid causes a greater rise in the total urinary nitrogen, than that caused by alanine alone. The increment is equivalent to the sum total of the alanine-nitrogen and the extra nitrogen eliminated as hippuric acid (tables 1 and 2, period 6). Although the hippuric acid output in this last period (table 1, period 6) is greater than it is in the control benzoic acid period (2), i.e., 0.141 as compared with 0.122 gram of nitrogen, the difference 3 Epstein and Bookman: this Journal, x, p. 353, 1911.
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