Abstract
In the present investigation, it was observed the alteration of the blood lactic acid (estimated by Inawashiro- Hayasaka's method) oxygen consumption (utilized HaIdane's gas analysis apparatus) and of the blood carbon dioxide (by means of Van Slyke) after extirpation of the spleen in rabbits.
The content of the lactic acid in the carotid blood which was estimated 2 hours and a week after the splenectomy increased a little, but 2 weeks after the operation it decreased significantly, and 3 weeks or more after the splenectomy it returned to almost the same value with that of the control experiment.
The oxygen consumption increased a little after the splenectomy, and 3 weeks or more later it returned to about normal value.
The carbon dioxide in the arterial blood increased during 2 weeks or so after the extirpation of the spleen, but it returned to the normal content 3 weeks or more after the splenectomy.
Fifteen per cent solution of sodium lactate was given intravenously in the splenectomized as well as in the non-splenectomized rabbits. The splenectomized animals were used 2 hours, 7 days, 14 days and 17-111 days after the operation. The blood lactic acid content, the oxygen consump-tion and the blood carbon dioxide were measured at 5, 15, 30 and 60 minutes after the lactate injection.
The lactic acid increased markedly in the splenectomized rabbits, and its grade was far stronger than that in the non-splenectomized one, and the recovery of it delayed accordingly. That is, tolerance to the lactic acid became low decidedly after the splenectomy.
Regardless the splenectomy, the increased oxygen consumption due to the lactate injection was almost of the same grade with that observed in the control experiment.
As to the increase of the blood carbon dioxide after the lactate injections, there was no definite difference between the control and the splenectomized rabbits.
