Localization and Associated Changes Following Intravenous Injection of Some Non-Metabolizable Colloids *

Hueper has contributed extensively to knowledge of the effects of the injection into animals of non-metabolizable colloidal substances. In 1939 he reported storage of subcutaneously or intravenously injected polyvinyl alcohol in the reticulo-endothelium of liver, spleen, and lymph nodes, in the endothelium of cerebral, pulmonary, and renal vessels, in the histiocytes of various organs, and in the glia and ganglion cells of the brain.' The deposition of polyvinyl alcohol in the intima of the aorta and the carotid and femoral arteries differed from that in the media, as was reported later in the same year. In the latter coat it was free, as could be shown by specific staining, and it did not greatly swell the media. The intima, on the other hand, showed nodular protrusions due to the accumulation of polyvinyl alcohol-containing monocytes, simulating the well-known lipid-laden cell accumulations of the intima in human atheromatosis.2 The next year he announced that 2 and 5 per cent methyl cellulose solutions with a viscosity of 400 centipoises produced similar intimal changes when injected into dogs and rabbits.3 The studies to be reported here were undertaken in the spring of 1941 at the instigation of Dr. K. Stern. The substances used were polyvinyl alcohol, sodium acrylate, and methyl cellulose. Dr. Stern obtained them from the Hercules Powder Company and not only made them available to us, but assisted greatly as the investigation advanced by determining the variants to be used.