Abstract
Extracts prepared from the pleural exsudates or ascites of cancer patients by Nakahara's original method were found to depress the in vivo liver catalase activity of normal mice to an extent comparable to that of the cancerous tissue. Whereas, in vitro, the latter shows no depression on the catalase activity of liver homogenate, and the former shows remarkable depression.
On investigating similar extracts prepared from the normal tissue and noncancerous pleural exsudates and ascites as well, it was concluded that the reason why the tumor extracts show no in vitro depression is because the foreign materials contained there in activate the liver catalase activity.
Moreover, on investigating the in vitro influence of these 4 kinds of extracts on blood and crystalline catalase activity, it was concluded that the lowering of liver catalase activity in cancerous animals is not because of the direct destruction of catalase by the toxohormone of Nakahara et al, but because the changes produced in its environment or medium cause the regression of catalase activity. Namely, the point of attack of toxohormone is considered to be related to the pathophysiology of the entire organism rather than to the chemical construction of catalase itself.
