Abstract
Increase in the guanidine content of the blood has been reported in tetany following parathyroidectomy (Burns and Sharpe, 1 Koch, 2 and Paton and Findley 3 ); in hypertension (Major and Weber 4 ); in Laennec's cirrhosis of the liver and in Banti's disease (Ellsworth 5 ); in eclampsia (Minot and Cutler 6 ); and in poisoning with carbon tetrachloride and chloroform (Minot and Cutler 7 ). In the last 3 of the above conditions there is an acute severe damage to the liver. Injury to the liver can be induced by mechanical obstruction of the hepatic veins. It appeared to be worth while, therefore, to compare the effects of injury to the liver induced by this method on the guanidine content of the blood with those obtained by Minot and Cutler in cases of liver injury caused by acute poisoning and eclampsia.
Under complete ether anesthesia and with rigid aseptic precautions we mechanically obstructed the hepatic veins by the method described by Simonds and Brandes. 8 Samples of blood were taken before the operation and 24, 48 and, in some instances, 72 hours after the operation. Guanidine was determined by the method described by Major and Weber. 9 The average of our normal determinations was 0.347 mg. of guanidine per 100 cc. of blood, with a maximum of 0.417 mg. and minimum of 0.303 mg. The figures given by Minot and Cutler 7 are the only determinations on normal dogs that we have been able to find. Their average was 0.374, with a maximum of 0.48 and a minimum of 0.29.
Our experiments involved a study of 16 dogs. Of these, 8 showed either a definite decrease or no change in the guanidine content of the blood; 4 showed increase of less than 0.1 mg. in 24 hours with a return to normal in 48 hours; one showed a slight decrease in 24 hours with a return to approximately normal in 48 hours; while only 2 showed a definite increase (from 0.340 to 0.444 mg. and 0.340 to 0.466 mg., respectively).
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