Abstract
The treatment of vitiligo 1 with the melanophore hormone as developed in this Institute has all the disadvantages peculiar to intra-dermal injections. Electrical conveyance has now been explored as a means of facilitating therapeutic application. Experiments have been carried out along 2 lines, i. e, conveyance of the hormone in vitro and conveyance through the skin.
1. Conveyance in vitro. The apparatus employed (Fig. 1) consists of a series of 7 vessels joined together by means of siphons filled with saline. The solution containing the melanophore hormone, which has been purified by a modification of Stehle's method, 2 is placed into the central vessel. The distribution of the hormone in the system was ascertained by biological test after 1 mA current had passed through the apparatus for 24 hours.
Dietel's method 3 of testing, adapted to the native species Lepto-dactylus ocellatus, was employed. In all the anodic vessels the test was negative, whereas decreasing amounts of melanophore hormone were found in the 2 vessels nearest to the central one. Saline solution was used in the experiments described here, which were preliminary, because we lacked the necessary potential for experiments with distilled water. However, we are now engaged with electrophoresis studies, in which we use the latter medium, following Williams' 4 technique. Our aim is to corroborate the findings obtained by the saline method, and to compare, if possible, the speed at which the melanophore hormone is conveyed with the conveyance of the hormones of the posterior lobe, the oxytocic and vasopressor factors, for which data are available from the work of du Vigneaud, et al. 5 2. Conveyance Through the Skin. In order to study the passage of the melanophore hormone through the skin, 2 frogs were put in series in a circuit of galvanic current.
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