Abstract
The recent development (Somogyi 1 ) of a rapid method for the estimation of foreign sugars in the blood in the presence of glucose throws new light on the chemical nature of the reducing substances circulating in the blood stream under normal and pathological conditions. Somogyi found that a simple substitution of a 10% (moist weight) yeast suspension for the distilled water used for laking and dilution in the Folin-Wu tungstic acid precipitation of the blood proteins results in the almost instantaneous total destruction of the glucose in the blood, leaving intact other sugars such as xylose, galactose and lactose and the various non-fermentable reducing substances in the blood.
The non-fermentable reducing substance of the blood was found to be remarkably constant in a series of patients not suffering from any metabolic disturbance and amounted to 28±5 mg. per 100 cc. In another series of cases including uremia, diabetes, nephritis, this was found increased to as high as 90 mg. per 100 cc. Two patients in hypoglycemia from overdosage of insulin showed no reduction of the non-fermentable fraction. Pregnant women showed a high content of non-fermentable reducing substance.
Galactose and xylose introduced into the blood stream of rabbits disappeared at a rate proportional to the actual concentration of the sugar in the blood (Fishberg 2 ). The mononuclear reaction formula C = Ae-αt where C is the concentration of sugar in the blood, t is the time in minutes after injection, and α a constant gotten by elimination of A using any 2 separate experimental values of t, is found to apply to the rate of disappearance of foreign sugars injected into the blood stream.
If the kidney of the rabbit is damaged by the injection of uranium there is a distinct delay in the disappearance of the foreign sugar.
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