A comparison of the effects of various brands of ACTH on normal individuals

Abstract

chemotherapy may have a place in the management of patients with genitourinary tuberculosis who are refractory to other forms of therapy. A COMPARISON OF THE EFFECTS OF VARIOUS BRANDS OF ACTH ON NORMAL INDIVIDUALS. H. D. Kaine, M.D. (introduced by R. R. Commons, M.D.). (From the Department of Medicine, University of Southern California School of Medicine, Los Angeles, Calif.) A comparison of the effects of several brands of ACTH was made on five medical students. The effects of normal saline were also studied. The preparations selected were freshly dated, mixed into solutions only when used, and refrigerated. They had previously been standardized (Sayer’s rat bio-assay method) by the individual companies preparing the products. Blood eosinophil counts and hourly urinary 17ketosteroid determinations were carried out before and four hours after the administration of the drugs. In addition, each preparation, as an unknown, was again standardized by the Sayer rat bio-assay method. The results under controlled circumstances showed an average decrease in blood eosinophils of more than 47 per cent in four of the products tested. Three of these four preparations were associated with decreases of 69, 69 and 55 per cent, respectively. The average decrease with normal saline was 26.6 per cent. The 17-ketosteroid determinations were quite variable in their results. A good response of close to 100 per cent increase was obtained with the use of every preparation but this was most consistent only with selected groups and the least consistent with normal saline. Standardization by Sayer’s method showed adequate responses with each brand of ACTH. The results indicate that active batches of ACTH, quantitatively equal, as compared with the Armour standard, elicited different variable responses in a group of normal individuals. The use of hourly 17-ketosteroid determinations could be used as an added standard determining the activity of ACTH in humans but several determinations must necessarily be made due to individual variable responses. METABOLIC STUDIES WITH METHYL ANDROSTENEDIOL. J. W. Partridge, M.D. (From the Institute for Metabolic Research, Highland Alameda County Hospital, Oakland, Calif.) Three young female patients were placed on long-term studies using a chemically constant formula diet administered through a polyethylene tube. After suitable control periods, each was placed on methyl androstenediol by