Quantitative pharmacological studies : adrenalin and adrenalin-like bodies / by W.H. Schultz.

  • Schultz, W. H. (William Henry), 1873-
Date:
[1909]
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Licence: In copyright

Credit: Quantitative pharmacological studies : adrenalin and adrenalin-like bodies / by W.H. Schultz. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Foa and Pellacani (32) in 1883 confirmed Pellacanfs earlier results and removed, as they supposed, the influence of fibrin ferment by heating the extracts to 60°. They found the toxic substance to be very soluble in water and alcohol, but rather insoluble in ether and chloroform. Whereupon they purified the water extract as fol- lows: The capsules were minced and put in boiling water; after a time the water was decanted, evaporated to dryness, and the residue treated with alcohol, the almost colorless alcohol solution evaporated to dryness and again taken up with water, thus leaving behind most of the impurities. Upon evaporating this solution a dark residue of a peculiar odor and of very acid reaction was obtained. One gram of this substance injected into dogs caused death, whereas the extracted pulp of the capsule was relatively inert. These inves- tigators came to the conclusion that there is an active poison in the adrenal gland independent of fibrin ferment which causes extreme prostration, collapse, motor and sensory paralysis, and death from asphyxia because of paralysis of the medulla oblongata, especially the respiratory center. After examining the original articles of these early writers it seems that more credit should be given to their work than is usually found in literature, for they certainly described symptoms of poisoning very characteristic of adrenalin. Krukenberg (44) (1885) assumed that the substance giving color with ferric chloride is not the chromogenic substance of Vulpian, but more likely pyrocatechin accompanying the chromogen. Marino-Zuco (52) (1888) after freeing 50 capsules from fat, ground and macerated them in 1,000 c. c. of distilled water heated in a water bath for several hours. The mixture was strained, evapo- rated on a water bath, and filtered, the resulting solution being slightly acid and red in color. This extract, diluted to 200 c. c., and 1 c. c. injected subcutaneously into rabbits, caused death in five minutes. If, however, the extract were treated with acid or alkali, it was in- effective, even in large doses. The presence of neurine alone does not explain the toxic action of the pure extract, but in combination with very acid phosphates it may, at least when made artificially, prove very toxic. Guarnieri and Marino-Zuco (35) (1888) made an extract of 10 beef suprarenals in 60 c. c. of water and injected 1 c. c. into medium- sized rabbits, causing death in a very short time. Treatment of the extract with acids and other reagents lessened the activity of the extract when intravenously injected. From these results they concluded the toxicity of the aqueous extracts was due primarily to neurine (which I believe is now generally conceded to have been choline) and organic phosphates. It is interesting to know that Dzierzgowski (27 and 28) as early as 1893 synthesized a number of catechol derivatives closely related
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