On the Relation of Necrosis and Inflammation to Denaturation of Proteins

Necrosis of the skin was produced by the injection of measured quantities of electrolytes and of amino compounds into the dermis, and the relative ability of these substances to produce it was determined. Inflammation characterized by edema and accumulation of leucocytes accompanied necrosis. The ability of electrolytes to produce necrosis was found to increase with the valence of their basic ion, and in this respect was in accord with their ability to denature proteins. The quantity of different electrolytes needed to produce necrosis varied in the same order as the molar concentration of these electrolytes, that is isotonic with liver or kidney cells. Necrosis caused by amino compounds occurred with similar relation to the isotonicity of liver cells. In this as in other relations the cells acted as osmometers. The foregoing relations indicate that denaturation of proteins, necrosis of living tissue, and osmotic activity of liver or kidney cells are determined by molecular weight, valence, and ion-dissociation of electrolytes, that is, by the factors that determine the colligative properties of electrolytes. Agents such as turpentine, mustard, or croton oil and some halogen substitution compounds of methyl that are insoluble in water and soluble in lipoids have produced skin necrosis and inflammation.