Biochemical studies on the behavior of the leucocytes after intravenous administration of alkalinized salvarsan.

Abstract

The reaction of the involuntary nervous system to intravenous injection of salvarsan, neosalvarsan and silver salvarsan, and the influence of this reaction on the neutrophile leucocytes have been discussed in two previous articles. 1

It was found that in humans the number of white blood cells decreases for a short period immediately following an intravenous injection of salvarsan. This sudden decrease is prolonged in patients who present manifestations of the so-called nitritoid crisis. An intravenous injection of silver salvarsan, however, is not followed by a similar reaction.

These findings, which were discussed at length in the foregoing articles, led to a study of the details of this leucocytic reaction, the main problem being: Where are the leucocytes during the period of their absence from the periphery? It seemed probable that they had migrated to the inner organs. But no proof of this theory could be elicited from the human body, as it is impossible to examine intimately the inner organs of human beings after salvarsan injections except in rare instances, and never in a sufficiently large number of instances to warrant definite conclusions. Furthermore, it is known that abdominal operations, as well as general narcosis, are in themselves productive of a similar decrease in the number of leucocytes in the peripheral vessels. The only avenue of approach to a solution of this problem, therefore, was a study of the conditions resulting in the animal body.

II.

Animal experiments along these lines necessitated preliminary comparative tests. In different series of animal tests a similar decrease in the number of leucocytes was observed after the intravenous injection of salvarsan. The decrease is less pronounced or is entirely absent when silver salvarsan is administered.