Abstract
The phytopharmacological studies by the author of menstrual blood and of blood from pernicious anemia patients have revealed that both menotoxin 1 and the toxin present in the blood of pernicious anemia cases 2 are very poisonous for plant protoplasm. A consideration of various physical and chemical properties of these toxinh indicates that they are not of the same nature. One of the most striking differences between menotoxin and pernicious anemia toxin is shown by their reaction to treatment with ultra violet rays.
Specimens of blood serum from pernicious anemia cases were examined in regard to their toxicity by the author's method, and their phytotoxic index was determined. Other samples of the same sera were then irradiated with quartz lamps for periods varying from 10 to 40 minutes, and the toxicity of the serum was again determined. Exposure to ultra violet rays for even a short period of time markedly decreased the toxicity of these specimens. This detoxifying effect of ultra violet rays was increased to a high degree by the addition of various sensitizers, of which tetrabromfluorescein was one of the most efficient. By adding small quantities of tetrabromfluorescein or eosin to the serum, the photodynamic effect of the ultra violet rays was greatly intensified, and the sera were detoxified to a higher degree than by the rays alone. This suggested the application of ultra violet irradiation together with eosin to the treatment of clinical cases. The author has already reported a number of successful therapeutic results obtained by administering eosin to patients intravenously and giving them repeated general ultra violet irradiations.
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