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A method for the direct determination of total serum cholesterol by on-column gas-liquid chromatography is described. The French reference method developed by Gambert et al.1served as a model for our method, which is fast and less laborious than the well-known CDC reference method of Cooper et al.23based on the Abell-Kendall technique.4The accuracy and precision of our on-column gas-liquid chromatographic method and the CDC reference method are comparable. The obvious advantage of this proposed gas-liquid chromatographic reference method is its increased analytical speed. The problem of the specificity of our method in relation to cholestanol is discussed.

Sterile, fresh concentrates of human red blood cells suspended in a specially designed sterile preservation medium have a stability of all six red blood cell parameters of over four months as measured in the Coulter Model S-Plus II. Substitution under sterile conditions of the unstable white blood cells for (commercially available) fixed (human) red blood cells is a well-established method to obtain simulated white blood cell suspensions of long-term stability.

A three-dimensional model for the analysis of the three quantities pH, pC02and base excess (BE), as measured in arterial blood, is presented. Whereas the conventional analysis of these quantities relies on reference regions as established from the univariate distributions, treating the quantities as uncorrelated, the present model estimates the parameters of the three-dimensional reference region from a sample of observations, based on the assumption that the observations inside the reference region follow a multidimensional Gaussian distribution. For observations outside the reference region, reference directions are established, corresponding to the conventionally defined specific states of acid-base disturbances. This leads to a new classification model, the results of which are compared to those of the conventional model.

Serum acid phosphatase activity is known to be elevated in a number of patients with metastatic prostatic carcinoma. Prostatic acid phosphatase (PAP) can be specifically measured by immunological methods. In this study we evaluated an enzyme-immunoassay of the sandwich type utilizing monoclonal antibodies.

Data are presented on iron content and distribution in several fresh and salt water fish species and are compared with those in man and rat. Iron metabolism was studied in the tench by means of intracardiac administration of tench plasma labelled with59Fe(III). The disappearance of plasma iron and the role which the different organs and tissues play in the clearance of plasma iron were studied. A method is presented for calculating internal iron kinetics. Iron transport from the plasma to the erythropoietic system equals the iron transport to the non-erythropoietic organs. To explain this high non-erythropoietic iron transport it is postulated that most of the iron transported to the non-erythropoietic organs will be excreted. The liver-bile system forms an important excretory route. In case of a sudden (erythropoietic) demand for iron the direction of the plasma iron transport may be switched from the liver to the erythropoietic organs.

The process of cholestasis in both man and rat leads in the majority of cases to the appearance of a biliary band in the electrophoresis of alkaline phosphatase isoenzymes. In this article, the biochemical nature and mode of formation of the biliary band is discussed, with reference to its appearance in cholestasis and other hepatobiliary diseases.

After some brief remarks on counting chambers, references to the ICSH-recommended haemoglobin-determination are given. The microhaematocrit of normal blood is advocated as a potential routine calibration method. Comments are given on discrepancies between centrifugal and flow haemocytometry haematocrits of abnormal and artificial bloods. Flow haemocytometry instruments are classified into analogue and digital instruments or into electrical and optical instruments. Their hydrodynamic properties are discussed. The principles and problems of electrical and optical cell counting and sizing are dealt with. The importance of the refractive index and of flow-induced cell shape changes for the MCV determinations is stressed. It is argued that MCV and haematocrit values are exaggerated at both low and high values and consequently MCHC is erroneously constant. Various prevailing red cell distribution width (RDW) and platelet distribution width (PDW) definitions bring about considerable confusion. The major features of the counting and sizing of white blood cells and platelets are described.

In a group of depressive patients a study was made of the influence of isocarboxazid on hunger sensations, on the peripheral glucose uptake and on the mobilization of glucose from liver glycogen. The group was symptomatologically homogeneous: all patients showed the symptoms of the vital depressive syndrome. We established the following. 1. In the group of patients showing improvement upon isocarboxazid medication (group A), the ? glucose value prior to treatment was significantly lower than that in the group of patients refractory to this drug (group B). During medication the ? glucose value showed a distinct increase, and after treatment it remained at a normal level. 2. Group B showed a tendency corresponding to that in group A, but this just escaped attaining the level of statistical significance. 3. Mayer's glucostatic theory of hunger regulation was not corroborated. 4. Isocarboxazid does not demonstrably inhibit intrahepatic glycogenolysis.

Summary: Detailed information concerning the performing and the reading of theCamp reaction is given in this study. ComparableCamp reactions were carried out on 1223 human streptococcals strains. Group B strains reacted positive in 99.5%++94%,+in 5% and in 0.5%. Group A strains were positive in about 80%; ++ in 30%, +in 28% and in 22%. The reactions in the A group were often incomplete. There are reasons to suppose that the responsible agents in the two groups of streptococci are not quite identical. C and G group streptococci both reacted positive in only 0.5%; all tested F and ungrouped strains were negative. By adding theCamp reaction to simple bacteriological methods it is possible to recognize with certainty human group B streptococci. Some observations were made over the interaction of both components of the reaction, the β toxin and the lytic agent produced by B group streptococci (Camp factor). Preliminary chemical studies make it likely that the Camp factor has a polypeptidic structure.

IntroductionPorphyria is thought to be an "inborn error of metabolism" (Garrod, 1923), i. e., of pyrrole metabolism.Quite a number of classifications of porphyria have been described, but among them the best known are those of Waldenström (1937) and of Schmid, Schwartz, and Watson (1953, 1954). In order to avoid any confusion the classifications of Günther (1922), Micheli and Dominici (1931), Discombe (1948), Prunty (1952), and Casalis (1954) are not to be discussed in this paper.Waldenström divided porphyria into three types: porphyria congenita, porphyria cutanea tarda (P. C. T.), and porphyria acuta (with clinical subdivision). He distinctly separated the congenital form from the others, as this type was never found in the families in which other types were seen. This type has a marked photosensitivity, resulting in severe mutilations very frequently accompanied by hemolytic anemia and splenomegaly. Waldenström designated P. C. T. as the form

The effect of some MAO-inhibiting hydrazines on the metabolism of exogenous 5-HT was investigated in 18 patients. These drugs were found to reduce the production of 5-HIAA after oral administration of 5-HT. This phenomenon was not in any way correlated with the development of the psychical changes. Moreover, it is probably not brought about by blockage of MAO activity. A few alternatives to inhibition of MAO activity are discussed.