6246 infectious hepatitis cases treated at 25 hospitals located in Okayama Prefecture during the last six years, 1952 to 1957, were studied mainly from the epidemiological point of view, and the following results were obtained.
1) Infectious hepatitis has been prevailed all over the prefecture since the initial epidemic in 1951. As the mode of epidemic became protracted, chronic and abortive forms were prone to increase in number. The ratio of total patients to infectious hepatitis cases was 1.27 per cent.
2) Extensive infections among villagers were noted in 73 hamlets, and it was presumed that the epidemic has been prevailed over the whole prefecture taking a hamlet, village or a town as unit. Infections among family were noted in 62 families, however, fnrther detailed study in the epidemic areas might show the higher morbidity. It was not certain whether these infections were entirely family or simultaneous infections.
3) As to seasonal occurence, considerable number of cases had onset of the disease during the period of early summer to early fall.
4) As to age, it has ranged mostly from the second to third decade, rather many in children but not rare in the aged. As to sex, predominant in males in general, but considerable differences were seen among hospitals and times. No definite relationship was noted between the epidemc and sex.
5) Throughout the last six years there have been 38.7 per cent of chronic hepatitis cases. In 41.3 per cent of the whole patients presented jaundice in their clinical courses. The fact that the longer the period of the epidemic the more increase increase in anicteric cases was noted.
6) Two year's follow-up studies after the epidemic, showed 209 of relapsed cases in whom 36.4 per cent were icteric.
7) 110 cases has jaundice, which was thought to be infectious hepatitis, in the past. Some of them were presumably reinfections or superinfections but definite conclusion could not be made.
8) 20 cases of fulminant hepatitis, malignant type of infectious hepatitis, and 6 cases of protracted form were studied. 22 cases of them were fatal. Such severe hepatitis patients were seen mainly in males of the second and third decades.
9) 61 cases (0.98%) developed postnecrotic cirrhosis, and 10 cases of them were fatal.
10) Serum hepatitis was noted in 1.6 per cent of the whole patients seen in Medical Services at 18 hospitals in Okayama Prefecture during the last six years, 1952 to 1957. No definite correlation between the epidemic of infectious hepatitis and outbreak of serum hepatitis was noted.

View full abstract

In recent years there have been many cases, with increasing frequency, of serum hepatitis resulted from blood transfusion. The purpose of this study was to investigate the incidence, clinical feature, prognosis and prophylaxis of serum hepatitis followed by blood transfusion. The results obtained were as follows;
1) Incidence of serum hepatitis among the patients who had blood transfusion at local institutions in Okayama City was 3.3% in 1957 and 4.7% in 1958, on the other hand, at Okayama University Hospital in 1958 it was 5.0% in the First Surgical Division, 5.4% the Second Surgery and 5.2% OBGYN respectively. The patients with serum hepatitis had received the amount 2, 600 to 1, 120 cc of blood, whereas 810 to 1, 120 cc in the cases who never developed serum hepatitis after blood transfusion.
2) Mean incubation period was 72.8 days ranging 19 to 180 days calculated from the date of last blood transfusion. Prodromal stage varied from 1 to 20 days, average 6.1 days, icteric stage 7 to 15 days, average 35.8 days, and convalescent stage 7 to 200 days, average 30.0 days.
3) Characteristic initial symptoms were anorexia, malaise and jaundice by which fairly number of the cases noticed the onset of the disease. Few had febrile course but low grade in most of the cases.
4) Laboratory data were obtained from the 20 cases of serum hepatitis admitted to our First Mebical Division. Serum bilirubin showed the maximum level on the 10 th day, average 13.0 mg%. No significant changes were noted in peripheral blood picture but for a slight initial monocytosis. SGO-T and SGP-T presented a elevation earlier than that of serum bilirubin, maximum on or about the 5 th day and then decreased abruptly. Serum colloidal liver function tests; in initial stage, positive Takata's reaction in 51.%, pcsitive CCF 46% and TTT 58% were noted, but even after 100 th day Takata's reaction was positive in 25% of the cases.
5) Follow-up studies were made on 49 serum hepatitis cases discharged from our hospital with complete recovery. 69% of these had subjective symptoms in some sort or another. Enlargement of the liver was noted in 20% of the cases. 33 cases were studied with special reference to liver function tests and liver biopsy. It was revealed that 43% of the cases still had impairment of liver function and that by means of liver biopsy, postnecrotic cirrhosis was found 9.1% of the cases. Therefore, the prognosis of serum hepatitis of this type was considered to be grave.
6) For the purpose of prophylaxis, 300 to 600 mg of gamma globulin was simultaneously administered on blood transfusion in 38 cases. Inspite of this, 4 cases suffered from serum hepatitis later on, and no definite prophylactic effect of gamma globulin was noted.

View full abstract

There are numerous articles concerning the estimation of total sulfur in organic substances and yet the results obtained hitherto are not by any means quite satisfactory. The gratest difficulty encountered in the estimation of sulfur seems to lie in the insufficient ashing of the substance. Therefore, the author studied various ashing metheds and finally modified Bethge's wet ashing in the following manner:
1, Ammoniated vanadium (NH₄VO₃) is added as an oxidizing catalyst.
2. As an indicator of the complete oxidation potassium chromate (K₂Cr₂O₇) is used.
3. The ratio of acid mixture is set in the proportion of three parts perchloric acid to two parts nitric acid.
4. The reduction mixture is placed into an ampule filled with nitrogen immediately after it is prepared and is sealed tightly, and the quantity of the mixture to be added is increased.
By the modified method mentioned above it has been possible to raise the recovery rate of sulfur added as much as 95.4 per cent, proving that this method is sufficiently useful for the estimation of the total sulfur in milk, urine and faces.
In the estimations of total sulfur of various milk such as breast milk, milk on the market and 18% solution of regulated powered milk the average contents of total sulfur have been found to be 11.7 mg and 31.8 mg per dl respectively.

View full abstract

By the new method as described in Part I the author studied the sulfur and nitrogen metabolism in infants under breast feeding and in infants under artificial feeding, and obtained the following results.
1. In the infants under brcast feeding at the age of 1-2 months, 3-4 months, and 5-6 months old the average sulfur retention at each period has beed 25.7, 33.7, and-0.53 per cent respectively. Similarly in the infants under artificial feeding at the same age range the average retenrion has beed 35.1, 48.6 and 40.4 per cent respectively.
2. In the case of the infants under breat feeding at the age of 5-6 months old the quantity of sulfur retained gives a negative value, but this seems to be due to an increased urinary excre tion of sulfur in the process of the conversion of cartilage to bone.
3. The nitrogen retention rate shows no difference due to feeding methods.
4. Nitrogen-sulufr ratio (N/S) of the retention differs according to the method of feeding. Namely, the ratio N/S in infants under breast feeding is 25.2 while that in infants under artificial feeding is 18.8.
5. N/S values of the retention in infants under breast feeding are higher than those in infants under artificial feeding. This fact indicates that sulfur in breast milk is more effective than that in cow's milk for increasing the quantity of nitrogen to be retained, and this in turn seems to be due to the action of cystine-sulfur contained in breast milk.

View full abstract

Comparative studies were carried on the normal ascitic cells, especially on phagocytes that occupy the major portion of ascitic cells, aspirated from mammalians such as mice, rats, rabbits, dogs, cats, and human as well as from chicken by the pressure method with a phase contrast microscope and also with moving pictures of these various cells. As the results the following conclusions were arrived at:
1. The majority of mouse phagocytes have the characteristics similar to those of monocytes and histiocytes.
2. In the higher animals such as rats and rabbits a greater portion of them show flagellar pseudopodia and the aggregating tendency of highly reflactile granules and the distribution of mitochondria along the groove of the nucleus. And their nuclear membrane is thin and the nuclei are solid with a complicated shape, and the nuclear substance is soft but without any nucleoles. All of these findings become quite similar to those of monocytes, and in dogs and cats they can hardly be distinguished from monocytes. In the case of normal human phagocytes most of them show degeneration but even these cells reveal the characteristics very close to those of monocytes but far different from those of histiocytes. Even in the chicken phagocytes an unexpectedly large portion of them possess marked characteristics of monocytes.
3. As for the movement of these cells it is minimal, differing from blood monocytes this point, but it seems that this is due to the adaptation peculiar to the eircumstances as ascites.
From these findings it can be concluded that the ascitic cells possess characteristics far different from those of histiocytes but extremely similar to those of monocytes.

View full abstract

As a sequence of the previous report for the purpose of elucidating the characteristic traits of ascitic cells more extensively from varicus angles the relationship between histiocytes and these cells was studied particularly on normal subcutaneous histiocytes, and then pursued the cytological changes of phagocytes under the intraperitoneal stimulation, especially those in the subcutaneous histiocytes, and also observed normal mouse and human blood monocytes under tissue culture with addition of ascites in order to see the relationships between blood monocytes and ascitic cells; each observation was carried on by pressure method with a phase contrast microscope. The fllowing are the results of the present observations.
1. Normal subcutaneous histiocytes possess compact cytoplasma with a clear-cut boundary and pseudopodia of saw-teeth form. Their motility is extremely low and they reveal an evenly-distributed mitochondria without showing any aggregation. The nuclei are generally plane and the nucleoles are distinct. From these characteristics they can easily be distinguish from normal phagocytes.
2. In the ascites under stimulation an increase in the number of small phagocytes can be recognized and the cell motility is accelerated, and the cell proliferation is almost as much as monocytes themselves with a greatly increased phagocytic power. During this stage there can be recognized the swelling of cytoplasma of subcutaneous hitiocytes and an increase in the number of highly reflactile granules and picnosis in the subcutaneous tissue. However histiocytes never become like monocytes by growing round and smaller but monocytes themselves increase in number independently and wander freely.
3. Mouse monocytes, somewhat like those of human and rabbits, show membraneous flagellar pseudopodia and take the so-called D-type movement. They reveal a few highly reflactile granules in the nuclear groove, and their mitochondria are aggregating in the groove and along the nuclear crevice. Their nuclear membrane is thin and the nuclei are quite compact with complicated shape but possess no nucleoles.
4. When human monocytes under culture with addition of ascites are observed for a long period of time, they can be seen undergoing transformation to phagocytes as a degeneration process.
5. Summarizing these experimental results and the results obtained in the previous report, it can be said that ascitic cells are not histicotyes but they are cells closely related to monocytes.
6. By observing the ascites obtained at the resection of the greater omentum, it has been confirmed again that the milk spots of the omentum are the source of ascitic cells.

View full abstract

In the observations of ascites obtained from patients by pressure method with the use of a phase-contrast microscope the author obtained the following results.
1. Even in the εscites of patierts the principal cell component is phagocytes, and their characteristics are essentially identical with those of animal phagocytes. Moreover, in the human ascites these cells present a still closer resemblance to monocytes.
2. In the patient ascites serous cells can be observed to a greater or a lesser extent, and as for their cytological findings mitochondria are arranged concentrically and their round nucleoles are of equal size and shape; and these are quite specific findings of the cells, making them easy to differentiate from phagocytes. Furthermore, these morphological changes offer an important basis for the differential diagnosis of patients.
3. The following characteristics can be pointed out according to different diseases.
a. Liver cirrhosis: The maiority of cells of the ascites in liver cirrhosis are phagocytes with little degeneration and with clear-cut cytoplasma, undergoing a pseudopodial movement somewhat like the sprouting of young grass. There can also be observed many phagccytic signet-ring cells. Likewise many sercus cells can be seen and some ef these have motive power, and some show semi-spherical pseudopodia. Their mictochcndria are elongated and slender and these extend and contract to a certain degree.
b. Tuberculous peritonitis: In the ascites of this disease the number of cells is most numerous, consisting mainly of small phagocytes and lymphocytes. The motitity of phagocytes is accelerated and also most of lymphocytes possess motility. Even large phagocytes show little degeneration, and most of those that ingest foreign particles possess sharp processes with a considerable residual mitochondria.
c. Nephrosis: The ascites in this disease is mostly composed of large phagocytes with large vacuoles. There are also many phagocytes with small vacuoles, and even these ingesting foreign particles rarely possess band-like processes but many of them have pseudopodia spreading out like petals of flower.
d. Heart diseases: Phagocytes are decidedly the major portion of the ascitic cells in heart diseases, and most of them are large type, resembling those of nephrosis but not possessing so many large vacuoles while reticular swelling of their cytoplasma can be observed in many of them.
e. Purulent ascites: In the ascites of this disease neutrophils are decidedly great in number, and small and intermediate phagocytes are also numerous, ingesting foreign particles, particularly neutrophils.
From these findings it is clear that the cell composition and the cytological characteristics of component cell of a ient ascites will play a sufficiently imporfant role in the differential diagnosis of various diseases.

View full abstract

As a continuation to Part 3 the author carried out observations on the tumor cells in tumorous ascites with the aid of a phase contrast microscope, and also on other cells such as phagocytes, and obsained some noteworthy results as follows.
1. When tumorous acites is divided into three groups according to the rate of tumor cell appearance: namely, group I those showing less than 5 per cent of tumor cells, group II those showing over 20 per cent, and group III those showing no fixed percentage; gastric cancer ascites, cancerous peritonitis, and cancerous ascites belong to the respective group in the order mentioned.
2. The case in which tumor cells and tumorous signet-ring cells can be verified is designated as the direct symptom, while those specific characteristics in tumorous ascites showing cells other than tumor cells, such as phagocytes and seruous cells, are to be designated as the indirect symptoms.
3. Tumor cells themselves will assume various shapes according to the kind of tumor and by their morphological characteristics even gastric cancer can be distinguished as glandular, simple, solid, or colloidal cancers. And likewise ccelothelioma cells present still more specific morphological traits, revealing a transformation picture to serous cells. In liver cancer cells there are specific granules, and sarsoma cells of reticulosarcoma and others present characteristics different from cancer cells.
4. Viewing the indirect symptom, phagocytes look ugly and serous cells show a strong degenerative tendency or a strong atypical appearance, and neutrophils also degenerate rapidly. From these findings cancer can be readily distinguisshed from other diseases such as liver cirrhosis, tuberculous peritonitis, etc.
5. Cytological observations of ascites as carried throughout parts 3 and 4 clearly prove to be a useful method for the clinical differential diagnosis of ascites in various diseases.

View full abstract

The resistance to streptomycin should be demonstrated by some differencies in metabolic reactions detectable by comparisons made between resistant and susceptible bacteria. This paper is concerned with the examination of the glucose metabolism of streptomycin-susceptible and streptomycin-resistant strains of Sh. flexneri 2a.
The resistant strains was obtained by serial transfers in progressive levels of streptomycin. This resistant variant could withstand at least 10, 000 γ per ml of streptomycin.
1) The oxidative abilitys of the resistant strains is considerably less on pyruvate among the components of the citric acid cycle than is that of the susceptible strain.
2) Pyruvic acid, lactic acid, and acetic acid accumulates during the oxidation of glucose by resistant and susceptible strains. The amount of pyruvic acid produced from glucose by resistant strain is more than that by susceptible strain. In the rate of consumptions of glucose between resistant and susceptible strains there is much less difference.
3) No significant difference between both strains is detected in anaerobic metabolism of glucose.
4) Resistant strains which has grown on continued subculture by serial transfer in the medium not containing streptomycin pcssess still these properties. This culture was also found to be resistant to at least 10, 000 γ per ml of streptomycin.
5) It is suggested that streptomycin-resistant and susceptible strains dissimilates glucose mainly by way of Embden-Myerhof pathway, and also have Warbung-Dickens pathway as an alternate pathway.
6) Streptomycin-susceptible strain growes more rapidly than streptomycin-resistant strain in shaking culture.
7) These results suggests that streptomycin-resistant strain is more fermentative in the metabolism of glucose than streptomycin-susceptible strain, and a significant difference between streptomycin-resistant and streptomycin susceptible strains exists in pyruvate metabolism and its terminal respiration system.

View full abstract

Following the previous reports, the author carried out the experiment to elucidate the difference in the pyruvate oxidation and its terminal respiration system between resistant and susceptible Sh. flexneri 2a.
1) The oxidation rate of pyruvate by resistant strain is considerably less at every pH than by susceptible strain. The pH optimum for oxidation of pyruvate of resistant strain is pH 5.6-6.0, whereas that of susceptible strain is pH 7.0-7.5.
2) The consumption rate on pyruvic acid substrate by resistant strain is significantly less than by susceptible strain.
3) Both resistant and susceptible strains oxidizes pyruvic acid via succinate.
Pyruvate accumulates during the oxidation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates such as succinate, malate, fumarate, α-ketoglutarate by resistant and susceptible strains.
4) Aspartic-glutamic transamination has been demonstrated in susceptible strain under aerobic condition with both aspartic acid and glucose added.
5) The oxidation of pyruvate of susceptible strain can be accerelated more rapidly by divalent metal ions such as Mg⁺⁺, Fe⁺⁺, Mn⁺⁺ than that of resistant strain.
6) Panthotenate accerelates more reasonably the respiration of pyruvic acid by susceptible strain than by resistant strain.
7) The significance of these results in relation to the presence of the citric acid cycle in the organism is discussed, and it is considered possible that an significant difference in metabolic activities between resistant and susceptible strains exists in the metabolic pathway from pyruvate to succinate in the citric acid cycle.

View full abstract

There has been very little experimental work on the tryptophan metabolism of streptomycin-resistant bacteria. The authors performed this experiment in order to find out the differencies of the tryptophan metabolism between streptomycin-sensitive and streptmycin-resistant Shigella flexneri 2a. The results were as follows:
1. When streptomycin-resistant strains were grown in the streptomycin-containing medium, they have quantitatively lower tryptophanase activity than streptomycin-sensitive strains.
2. Streptomycin-resistant strains restores tryptophanase activity when streptomycin is absent in the growth medium, but they are resistant to streptomycin (10, 000γ/ml).
3. Tryptophanase activity of both strains is inhibited slightly by divalent metal ions such as Mg, Fe, and Mn, but the inhibitive action of Cu is very remarkable. Natrium azide and arsenite have no effect.
Vitamin B₆ and 2.4-dinitrophenol accerelates indole production from tryptophan by this organism.
4. Of the the various antibiotics aureomycin inhibits most markedly tryptophanase activity and chloromycetin does slightly, but streptomycin has no influence.
5. Tryptophanase is an adaptive enzyme, and considered to have essentially no relation to streptomycin-resistant mutation.

View full abstract

This experiment was attempted to investigate the inhibitory action of streptomycin. The organism used is Shigella flexneri 2a.
The results are as follows:
1) Even under a level of 200 γ/ml streptomycin, it cannot inhibit the oxidation of pyruvate, succinate, fumarate, malate, glutamate, and aspartate by whole cell suspensions.
2) When glutamate is added to a cell suspension that has previously been permitted to oxidize fumarate, an immediate increase in oxygen consumption is observed. This increase is scarcely prevented by streptomycin.
3) The oxidatin of a mixture of glucose, glutamate, and 10^-3M Mg⁺⁺ by a cell suspension is prevented by streptomycin level of 200 γ/ml.
4) Streoptomycin prevents especially aerobic growth of this organism in the synthetic medium and results in an increased accumulation of pyruvate as a metabolic product.

View full abstract

This experiment was performed to investigate the effect of aureomycin, chloromycetin, and streptomycin upon the oxidation of several substrates by Sh. flexneri 2a and E. coli communis.
The results are as follows:
1) A level of 200γ/ml aureomycin markedly inhibits the oxygen uptake with substrates such as glucose, pyruvate, glutamate, and aspartate. The inhibitory rate has no relation to the preincubation time of a mixture of aureomycin and a cell suspension.
2) A high concentration (200γ/ml) of chloromycetin slightly inhibits the oxidation of amino acids such as glutamate and aspartate. The inhibitory rate has a relation to the preincubation time of a mixture of chloromycetin and whole cell suspensions.
3) A level of 200γ/ml streptomycin slightly inhibits the oxidation of glutamate and aspartate by E. coli, but it does not affect the oxidation of glucose and pyruvate by this organism.
The oxidation of proposed substrates by Sh. flexneri 2a is not also prevented by streptomycin.
Even though streptomycin is added to the original cell suspension before the substrates and preincubated for an hour, the results are the same.

View full abstract

Twenty-one patients were anesthetized by intravenous injection of thiamylal sodium and changes in blood and interstitial fluid were observed before and after anesthesia.
1) The specific gravity of blood and plasma, plasma protein and hematcrit slightly increased after intravenous administration of thimylal sodium, while the water content of blood and pleasma decreased.
2) Among the plasma electrolytes, plasma nartrium and chloride decreased, while plasma pottasium increased.
3) A decrease of plasma volume and an increase of interstitial fluid were observed.
4) The changes of factors mentioned above is regarded to be caused not only by blood concentrasion but also by transmission of plasma fluid to extracellular fluid.

View full abstract

Twenty-one patients were anesthetized by intravenous injection of thiamylal sodium and the relationships between the duration of anesthesia and the blood and interstitial fluid were studied.
1) A parallel correlation was seen between the anesthesia duration and the water content of plasma.
2) A reverse correlation was found between the sleeping time of anesthesia and quantity of the total plasma protein.
3) No interrelatiohships were found between the duration of anesthesia and hematcrit, water content of blood, serum natrium, serum chloride, serum pottasium and plasma volume.
4) A reverse correlation was seen between the sleeping time of anesthesia and the interstitial fluid volume.

View full abstract

In view of the fact that there may be two possible actions in radiation distrurbaces in vivo, namely, one acting directly and the other acting indirectly, and on the assumption that these actions, persisting quite a long time after irradiation, induce specific substance in the irradiated nimals, Yamamoto of our department, has succeeded in isolating unsaturated fatty acid substance (OX) specific to the irradiated animals. With the purposa to find out what influences this substance (OX) will have on Ehrlich's ascites tumor cell, the author studied its effect on the number, mitotic phases and DNA ontents of the cancer cells.
Test animals used are 80 mice each wighing about 15-20 g. To these animals 0.2cc cell suspension of Ehrlich's ascites tumor cell is transplanted intraperitoneally and one week after the transplantation 0.2cc of 2%-, 1%-, 0.5%- OX substance is injected intrapeitoneally to these animals. By observing the changes in the cell counts, mitotic phase, and the DNA contents in each cell (with spectrophotometry) at the intervals of 1, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 hours after the injection of OX substance, and the following results were obtained:
The number of cancer cells has been found markedly decreased; nomely, after one hour it is down to 78 per cent of the original count; down to 44per cent after 9 hours; and down to 46.2 per cent after 24 hours. As for the mitotic phases, metaphase, anaphase telophase have been increased and the number of cells undergoing mitosis is diminished. Moreover, as for the DNA contents per cell, there can be observed an increase ni the number of cells with a markedly small amount of DNA, while the cells undergoing duplication due to mitosis have been found decreased in nmmber.
From these facts it is concl ded that OX substance acts on Ehrlich's ascites tumor cells as to induce the following disturbances: (1) cell destruction, (2) impairment of the activity in mitotic apparatus, (3) disturbance of the DNA synthesis, and (4) elicits atypical cell divistion.

View full abstract

Using several kinds of respiratory enzyme inhibitors, the author studied the effect of the inhibitors on infection of rickettsia to mouse. The investigations were carried out in vitro and in vivo and the observations were made from day to day. Moreover, the characters of rickettsia were investigated by the re-inoculation to normal mouse from the culture. The following results were obtained.
1) The infection of rickettsia were found to be suppressed by previous in vitro treatment of rickettsia with any enzyme inhibitors tested, but the suppression effect was varied by kind of inhibitors, its concentration, duration of its action and the concentration of rickettsial suspension. The infection capacity of enzyme inhibitor treated-rickettsia showed a decrease in cases of 5 hours treatment of 10-20 mg malonate, of 1.0 mg monojodo acetic acid or of 1.0 mg fluoride. However, the affection of these inhibitors was very specific, and found to have caused merely a reduction of infection capacity or a suppression of infection instead of to caused an inactivation of rickettsia.
2) On the contrary the inhibitors did not show an inhibitory effect to the infection of the rickettsia, if the inhibitors were administrated to the mouse to be tested before the attack of rickettsia. Accordingly a fairly difinite infection and the successive multiplication of rickettsia were observed on the previousely inhibitor-treated mouse; upon rare occasions the infection was found to be severe on these trea ed mouse.
3) The effect of inhibitors also studied by observing properties of re-inoculated rickettsia to normal mouse, the rickettsia was taken from the culture on the previously inhibitor-treated mouse. The multiplication of re-inoculated rickettsia was measured by means of LD₅₀ curve, and was demonstrated that the appearance of symptomes and the days to death after the infection was somewhat delayed on the treated animal compared to the control; but the occurences were almost in the same way as in the control except a short delay of the time. Hence, the affected metabolism of host cell and metabolic system of animal required to multiplication of the rickettsia were supposed to show so much definite effect to the suppression of infection.

View full abstract

In 1959 we discovered that a hemolytic, anemia-inducing substance is produced in the animals exposed to X-rays. Since then we have found that when this substnce is injeted intravenously into animals, there occur disturbances in the blood, spleen and bone marrow. And also it has become clear that this substance brings about Heinz's body appearance in erythrocytes. As Heinz's body also appears in cancer anemia and it is transformed into hemolysin, it may be assumed that the hemolytic, anemia-inducing substance is contained also in cancer tissue.
Upon such assumption we have compared the hemolytic capacity of the extract obtained from the fresh gastric cancer tissue resected at operation with that of the extract from normal gastric tissue. As the result, we have recognized that this hemolytic, anemia-inducing substance is contained considerably in cancer tissue.

View full abstract