STUDIES ON THE HEPATIC ORIGIN OF SERUM PROTEINS

(III) WITH SPECIAL REFERENCF TO THE ABILITY OF LIVER AND SPLEEN TO METABOLIZE SERUM PROTEINS IN HEPATIC DISORDERS

Abstract

(1) The cathepsin activity of the liver revealed no change in degree in a rabbit treated repeatedly with CCl₄ and in a normal one, while that of the spleen was greater in the former than in the latter.
(II) Incubation in rabbit serum of a liver slice from a normal rabbit and from a CCl₄ treated one showed that the total nitrogen, the non protein nitrogen, and the total protein content of the medium was increased in both cases, and that the albumin content was decreased and the α-globulin content increased in the former case, but not in the latter.
Incubation in γ-globulin solution of a liver slice, and incubation in rabbit serum of a spleen slice, either from a normal or from a CCl₄ treated rabbit, caused no notable change in the contents of the medium.
The fact that a normal liver (and spleen) was not different in cathepsin activity from one in chronic CCl₄ intoxication appeared to indicate that protein metabolism in the liver (and spleen) was maintained at normal level even in case the liver (and spleen) was impaired, although a decline in albumin metabolism in an impaired liver might imply a rise in globulin metabolism in such an impaired liver.