Abstract
We have followed the curve of blood calcium concentration in normal dogs following the administration of calcium lactate in quantities of 0.5 or 1.0 gm. per kilo body weight, given in water solution, 20 cc. per kilo, with the addition of saponin in concentrations varying from 1.0 to 0.01%. Two preparations of saponin were used, Merck's purissum album and Morgan's. In control experiments carried out on the same animals one week previously, the calcium lactate solution was administered without saponin.
The method of determining the plasma calcium content was that of Kramer and Tisdall as modified by Tweedy and Koch 1 and by Pincussen and Schimmelpfeng. 2
The initial blood calcium values in 48 experiments, showed a mean of 11.4 mg. ± 0.069 mg. The maximum reached in 24 control experiments was 13.65 mg. ± 0.157 mg. The maximum reached in 24 saponin experiments was only 13.92 mg. ± 0.134 mg.
There was no evidence that the duration of the rise in blood calcium was effected by saponin. If the blood calcium curve can be taken as an index of calcium absorption, the influence of saponin, in the dog, appears to be negligible.
Positive effects have been reported in studies on the isolated intestine of the guinea pig, 3 on mice, 4 and on man. 5 The recent studies of Wokes, 6 however, have failed to confirm some of the earlier work.
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