Proteose intoxications and body protein injury

Abstract

Proteose injections in dogs cause well-known clinical reactions—vomiting, diarrhea, temperature reactions, low blood pressure, prostration and after large doses, an excess of antithrombin with incoagulable blood. A single proteose injection—for example one half a lethal dose—causes abrupt clinical reactions in a normal dog with apparent complete recovery within 24 to 48 hours. The nitrogen elimination curve in a fasting dog under such conditions shows a great rise in total urinary nitrogen. The apex of the curve usually falls on the second 24-hour period following the injection. This rise may be over 100 per cent. increase above the mean base line nitrogen level. It does not fall promptly to normal but declines slowly in 3 to 5 days or more toward the original base line. This speaks for a definite cell injury with destruction of considerable protein substance due to a single proteose injection. The disturbance of cell equilibrium is not rapidly nor promptly restored to normal.

A dog which has received previous proteose injections is somewhat immune or tolerant to subsequent injections of proteose. Such dogs, as a rule, show less intense clinical reactions and less rise in the curve of nitrogen elimination following a unit dose of standard proteose as compared with normal or non-immune controls. The proteose used in these experiments was prepared as described from material obtained in cases of intestinal obstruction or of closed intestinal loops.

Dogs with isolated loops of small intestine show many evidences of intoxication. A study of the total nitrogen elimination shows a great rise above the normal base line minimum of this fasting period. This means that this intoxication is associated with a great destruction of body protein, and explains the high nonprotein nitrogen of the blood which was observed and reported previously.