Abstract
The hypothesis is suggested by MacCallum 1 that hemochromatosis may possibly be due to iron retention, secondary to decreased excretion of waste iron by the colon. We have attempted to test this hypothesis by a surgical removal of the colon of dogs.
This removal was performed in two stages. First, the entire large intestine was separated from the mesentery by means of an abdominal incision, and the abdomen closed. The entire colon was then withdrawn through the anal opening, by a modified Whitehead operation, care being taken not to injure the anal sphincters. The end of the ileum was sutured to the anal mucosa.
After the operation, the dogs were kept on a milk diet for about a week, and then placed on an ordinary mixed diet. Most of the dogs died from shock or intercurrent infections, or were killed for pathological study at the end of from one to two weeks. One dog, however, was kept for three-and-a-half months.
This dog showed a rapid loss of weight during the first two weeks following the operation, after which it slowly gained in weight till the end of the experiment. The dog apparently suffered no inconvenience from the operation, other than that from the frequent passage of semi-liquid stools.
At autopsy this dog showed no pigmentation of the internal organs that could be detected macroscopically. Frozen sections and celloidin sections of the spleen, liver, pancreas, small intestine, kidney, bone-marrow and heart muscle showed no pigment deposits. No iron-containing pigment could be detected in these organs by the Berlin blue reaction.
The total removal of the large intestine in dogs, therefore, apparently does not produce a recognizable degree of haemochromatosis within a period of three-and-a-half months.
Experiments extending over a longer period of time will be reported later.
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