The Toxicity of Caffein: An experimental study on different species of animalsSalant, William
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The Toxicity of Caffein: An experimental study on different species of animals
Salant, William
Caffeine -- Physiological effect
The classical experiments of Bunge and Schmiedeberg(15)[A] on the
synthesis of hippuric acid are of interest in this regard. It will
be recalled that in the dog the synthesis takes place in the kidney;
the rabbit is able to form hippuric acid in the liver as well as in
the kidney, while frogs can synthesize hippuric acid even when both
of these organs have been removed or excluded from the circulation.
Observations on the fate of some of the alcohols of the fatty acid
series have likewise shown that these substances may be combined
with glycuronic acid in some animals but not in others. According to
Thierfelder and Von Mering,(84) tertiary alcohols are combined in this
manner in the rabbit but not in the dog. According to Neubauer,(64) the
primary and secondary alcohols are so combined in the dog as well as in
the rabbit, but to a greater degree in the latter.
[A] The small figures refer to the bibliography at the end of this
bulletin.
Pohl(73) found that amyl alcohol is largely eliminated by the lungs
in the cat and in the dog. The protocols of his experiments show that
65 per cent of the alcohol given these animals was thus recovered,
while he recovered only 22 per cent of this substance in the expired
air of the rabbit. Examination of the urine showed the presence of
glycuronic acid. Hofmeister's(37) work with tellurium in the dog is of
interest in this connection. He made the important discovery that some
animals possess the power of methylation as well as of demethylation.
Abderhalden and Brahm's(1) experiments with pyridin show that the same
is true of young dogs when on a meat diet. His experiments on rabbits
with this substance were negative.
The metabolism of caffein and theobromin furnish another illustration
of differences in the physiological mechanism of animals. Although
the substances found in the urine of man, dog, and rabbit after the
administration of caffein and theobromin were the same, the quantities
varied considerably. According to Krüger and Schmidt,(47) over 14 per
cent of the theobromin introduced into the rabbit is eliminated as
7-methyl xanthin in the urine. The dog eliminates only about 0.67 per
cent. On the other hand, the amount of tri-methyl xanthin eliminated
was only 3 per cent in the dog and not quite 1 per cent in the rabbit.
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