Abstract
It was demonstrated by Baumann and others that the toxic carbocyclic radicals split off from the proteins by the growth of intestinal bacteria are conjugated in the liver with sulphuric acid and thus detoxicated. It is also known that a portion of these aryl compounds are detoxicated by conjugation with glycuronic acid.
It is obvious that in testing for the functional capacity of the liver it is essential not only to test the glycogenic, ureogenic, biligenic etc., functions, but also to examine the detoxicating power of the hepatic tissue, in order to ascertain the complete working power of the gland. This is done in the following manner: The patient receives a dose of castor oil to evacuate his bowels. He is then kept on a known diet for two days, during which time the urine is collected, preserved and analyzed for total sulphur and ethereal sulphates. On the third day the patient receives a capsule containing 0.5 gm. thymol. The urine is collected for the next two days, preserved, and again analyzed for total sulphur and for ethereal sulphates.
If all the thymol were absorbed, and if all the thymol were conjugated with sulphuric acid and none with glycuronic acid, the 0.5 gm. thymol would be excreted as 0.766 gm. of thymol sulphuric acid. This would cause a marked increase in the percentage of ethereal sulphates in the urine. If the detoxicating power of the liver were below par, the thymol would not be conjugated, and the percentage of ethereal sulphates would be only slightly different from what it had been on the first two days-before the thymol administration.
We have found that this detoxicating function of the liver usually runs parallel with the other functional derangements of this organ.
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