The anticoagulant effect of bacterial polysaccharides in normal and thrombocytopenic plasma of leukemia.

By GUSTAVE FREEMAN, M.D. J (i)RPES,1 iii his momiograph on hepam’in, reviewed various polysacchiark!es in the light of their amiticoagulamit activities. TiThese polymers are of both biologic amid synthetic origin. None of the miat-urally occurring anticoagulant polysaccharides, other thami heparimi, are kmiown to existimi the blood of man. However, the possible effect of polysaccharid!es arising from bacteria (luring infectiomi, on coagulation has miotl)eemi det-ermimieo!. Chargaff, Bancroft amid Stanley-Browmi, in l936, mentioned a lack of anticoagulant activity by polysaccharides from cultures of pmieumococcus, type III, amio! of the h)acillus Calmet-te-Gu#{233}rimi, as compared to heparin. From another point of view, Shear amid his co-workers36 have heemi pursuing a fruitful field! of investigation related to the characterization amid effect of bacterial polysacchiaride omi neoplastic tissue. Gemierally, considerable interest has b)eemi developimig around the biologic role of polysaccharides amid carbohydrate moieties in physiology and disease.7m#{176} Bacterial autolysates have beemi studied iii relation to their effect-s on l)lood vesselsm’18 amid on coagulatiomi since 1907 whets Heym’ovsky” described the appearamice of purpura ill mice imijected with such materials. This is of imiterest partly because such autolysates comitaimi polysaccharides,7 in add!itiomi to other derivatives, and because the specific residence of the purpura-producing amid anticoagulantproperties has miot been clearly determimied. Among others, 12, 1618