Abstract
The leucopoietic apparatus of the rabbit under ordinary circumstances is an organ in a delicate state of equilibrium and the threshold for leucopoietic stimuli is low. It has been shown 1 that the intravenous injection of even a small quantity of distilled water may be capable of producing a stimulation characterized by a transient leucocytosis which is the result of a true bone marrow reaction, for it is accompanied by a sudden increase in the number of juvenile cells in the peripheral circulation. The more potent stimulating agents will produce a more profound reaction. Nucleic acid, or sodium nucleinate, are examples of such potent stimulating agents and the parenteral introduction of either of these substances into a normal rabbit will invariably be followed by a transient leucocytosis which is accompanied by a marked increase in the percentage of juvenile cells in the peripheral circulation.
During the course of an investigation into the action of certain cyclic compounds on the haematopoietic tissues, it was observed that the capability of the leucogenic tissues to respond to normal stimuli was lost long before any change could be observed in the cellular constituents of the peripheral circulation. These compounds which include amidopyrin, antipyrin, a-dinitrophenol, phenylhydrazine hydrochloride, catechol and o-quinone, have been described as possible etiological agents in the production of human agrantilocytic angina. 2 , 3 , 4
With the exception of the reaction given to a-dinitrophenol, the reaction to amidopyrin may be regarded as typical of the reactions to the entire group; the quantities of these substances which were required to inhibit the irritability of the leucogenic tissues varied greatly, phenylhydrazine being the most potent agent and antipyrin the least active.
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