Tom D. Spies

RECENT ADVANCES IN THE TREATMENT OF PELLAGRA AND ASSOCIATED DEFICIENCIES

Excerpt In 1735 Gaspar Casal, a Spanish physician, first described pellagra and shrewdly pointed out that this disease is related to an inadequate diet.1That diet was the controlling factor in the ...

THE USE OF FOLIC ACID IN SPRUE

Excerpt A number of investigators have already shown that Addisonian pernicious anemia, non-tropical sprue, and related macrocytic anemias are promptly relieved by the administration of synthetic f...

The Influence of Sodium Bisulphite on Acid Production in Saliva

The rdle of acids in tooth decalcification (1) is now generally accepted. As a result recent attempts at dental caries control have been in the direction of decreasing the rate of acid formation in the mouth, and/or increasing the rate of acid neutralization in regions associated with the caries susceptible portions of the teeth (2). Since the latter has been considered difficult to achieve, methods and means of decreasing the rate of acid formation in the mouth have been the aim of most of the recent investigations in this field. Controlled diet, oral hygiene, and interference with the enzyme or coenzyme systems necessary for carbohydrate degradation have each presented distinct possibilities. Chemical inhibitors of enzyme systems has been studied by Stephan (3) using urea, Zander (4) using ammoniacal silver nitrate, Dean, Jay, Arnold, and Elvove (5) using the fluoride ion, and most recently Burrill, Calandra, Tilden, and Fosdick (6) using synthetic vitamin K. These investigators have all succeeded in reducing significantly the rate of acid formation in the saliva. The work of Burrill, Calandra, Tilden, and Fosdick (6) was particularly interesting because a 2-methyl 1,4-napthoquinone-sodium bisulphite addition compound was employed. The results were attributed to the quinone which was regarded by these investigators as the active ingredient, the sodium bisulphite being used for the purpose of rendering the 2-methyl 1,4-napthoquinone water soluble so it would be more rapidly absorbed (7). Sodium bisulphite, however, has had some use in medicine as an antiseptic and an antifermentation agent (8). The possible effect of sodium bisulphite on the results obtained by Burrill, Calandra, Tilden, and Fosdick stimulated investigation in regard to the action of this salt on the process of acid production in saliva. Since Burrill and his associates used less than 0.75 mg. sodium bisulphite in their study with 2-methyl 1,4-napthoquinone (6), a series of preliminary tests were made using varying concentrations of sodium bisulphite. It was found that values ranging from 2.5 mg. to 10 mg. showed a definite interference with the acid formation, the most efficient concentration ranging from

Adenylic acid in human nutrition.

Excerpt From our studies of a large series of persons with mixed vitamin deficiency, we reported recently1, 2, 3that the diagnostic manifestations of pellagra, beriberi, riboflavin deficiency, vita...

THE EFFECT OF ROENTGEN-RAY ON THE BLOOD CODEHYDROGENASES I AND II

Excerpt It is a well known fact that therapeutic doses of roentgen-ray frequently give rise to a train of symptoms characterized by nausea, vomiting, abdominal cramps, headache and general malaise....