Nature of the Goiter Producing Substance in Cabbage. ∗

Abstract

In the course of our attempts 1 , 2 to isolate the substance in cabbage that produces goiter in rabbits we found that: (1) Cabbage was entirely inactivated by drying in air at 25-35°C, or in vacuo at a higher temperature. (2) Cabbage extracted with various solvents such as ether, alcohol, acetone, etc., was quite inactive. (3) These extracts concentrated in vacuo and fed to rabbits were likewise ineffective.

Since the substance in whole cabbage is not injured by prolonged boiling in air, by acid and alkali hydrolysis, and by autoclaving at 150°C, we concluded that these negative results might be due to volatilization. During the past year we have tested this assumption as follows:

1. Four rabbits were fed on cabbage, steamed in bulk for 35 minutes; 4 additional rabbits were fed on raw hashed cabbage that was steamed in a thin layer for 35 minutes. The rabbits on cabbage steamed after hashing had hyperplastic thyroids after 4 weeks'feeding, but definitely less marked than those on cabbage steamed in bulk. 2. Attempts were made to distil cabbage in various ways and to feed the volatile portion. Some methods gave negative results. With others a product was obtained which caused slight thyroid hyperplasia. 3. Since the agent in cabbage that causes goiter could be removed by several organic solvents, and we thought it might be volatile, we next attempted to remove it with ethyl ether. After removal of nearly all of the ether at atmospheric pressure, the “cabbage fat” (ether extract) was fed to 4 rabbits for 30 days, in which time definite thyroid hyperplasia had developed, while an equal number of control animals showed normal thyroids.