Effects of Neoarsphenamine and of Mercurochrome Upon the Ultramicroscopic Appearance of the Blood Plasma.

Abstract

In a previous communication we have shown that the addition of a great variety of antiseptics to solutions of purified egg albumin in vitro causes the appearance of the albumin particles to change from the bubble-like picture given by egg albumin and other lyophillic colloids, to the punctate, star-shaped and comet-like picture given by lyophobic colloids. We have assumed that this may be regarded as evidence of aggregation and probably also of dehydration. The conditions observed with blood plasma are, however, somewhat different. The proteins of plasma are probably not like the particles of egg albumin in sodium chloride, naked protein, but certainly represent a better state of dispersion, which is probably in part due to the presence of the plasma lipoids. Under the ultramicroscope the visible particles never appear as large or as brilliant as those seen in an egg albumin solution, but are smaller and less brilliant. When neoarsphenamine or mercurochrome solutions are added to oxalated rabbit's plasma (2 mgm. oxalate per cc. of whole rabbit's blood) the spherical particles become definitely more brilliant than they were before. This seems to correspond qualitatively, but not quantitatively, with the actions of these drugs upon egg albumin solution, i. e., there is probably an alteration of the colloid with a partial dehydration and perhaps a small degree of aggregation. When mercurochrome (10 mgm. per kilo) is injected intravenously in a rabbit, and the blood removed 5 minutes or even an hour and a half later, the particles seen when the oxalated plasma is viewed with the ultra-microscope, show the same increase in brilliancy that we observed when the drug was added in vitro. Using the wedge photometer for comparing the plasma of the normal rabbit with that of the rabbit injected with mercurochrome, we have obtained the following readings, which are typical for several experiments: