The Action of Hepatic, Renal and Other Cells on Phenol and Indol, under Normal and Pathological Conditions

I t is the object of this communication to give the results of experimental observations on the behavior of various animal cells toward certain substances belonging to the aromatic type, notably phenol and indol. ]:he inquiry was prompted by the interest wMch attaches to a Study of the natural defenses of the organism against various ]~inds of damage through chemical agencies. Prominent among the problems that arise in connection with such an inquiry are, first, the determination of the seat of the defensive action of the organism, whether chiefly in the blood or in the cells; second, the relative activity of the different kinds of cells in the neutralization of the toxic properties of the particular chemical agents employed; and third, the character of any chemical transformation that may take place, when these substances are acted upon by living cells. Indol and phenol were selected for use in the inquiry for two reasons. First, these substances are normal products of proteid clea~vage in the intestine, under the influence of bacteria and of the proteo~ytic ferment of the pancreatic juice, and they are often farmed in excessive amounts in the course of digestive derangements. Greater interest thus attaches to the fate of these substances in the organism than to that of wholly foreign poisons. Second, both indol and phenol are recognizable by means of delicate, color reactions, and it becomes possible by means of the procedures to. be described to make use of these color tests far the purpose of comparing the relative proportion of phenol and indol present in different solutions.