Evening star., 1933-01-21
PNEUMONIA CURE
BE[|EvEDFOUND|N
EXPERIMENT HERE
Veterans Administration Doc
tor Gets Perfect Results in
Tests on Rabbits.
NO EXPERIMENTS MADE
ON HUMAN BEINGS YET
Prolonging of Life for Few Days
After Injection Means Complete
Recovery, Early Trials Indicate.
BY THOMAS r. HENRY,

BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Discovery Of "a new biochemical an
tigen which may prove to be to pneu-
monia what quinine is to malaria OF
antitoxin to diphtheria" is announced
IN the January medical bulletin of the
Veterans Administration.
If the results obtained by DR.. Edwin
e. Ziegler Of the Veterans Administra.
ton medical staff stand up in the
hands Of other Investigators and car
be transferred from rabbits to human
beings, the discovery Of "pneumo-
cholin" promises to be one of the most
far-reaching in. medical history.
The new drug, as described by DR.
Z1egler, Is produced by dissolving large
numbers Of pneumococci, the causative
agent Of pneumonia, In the salt sodium
taurocholate, q deriyative of bile. The
announcement concerned only Q drug
produced by use of type l pneumo-
cocci, which Is easiest to obtain in guam
titles, but Ziegler announces that he Is
preparing a paper on pneumocholins
produced with four other types of the
pneumonia organism.
Chemical Composition Unknown
Treatment Of pneumonia with injec-
tions OF bile salts has been known to
the medical profession for some time
and led directly to discovery of the
present drug, whose chemical compost
ton Is unknown. Ziegler describes ex.
periments which apparently demon
Strate this much.
That given four days leeway 1t posi-
lively neutralizes the action Of unques-
tionably fatal injections Of type ]
pneumococci and possibly all the
other types-in rabbits.
That 1t appears to act as q specific
cure II life can be maintained in the
victim for four or five days after the
treatment. No tests with human beings
are reported. 1t Is intended to study
the characteristics Of the drug thor
oughly with the experimental animals
before recommending it for medical
practice. But the various pneumonias
1t Is pointed out in the report. run
much the same course in human beings
as IN rabbits, and where there are diff
ferences they are such as to make the
prospects more favorable with men
and women. Ziegler reports that the
travenous injections, and, as far as
can be determined, has no bad effects
whatever.
Saved Lives Of Rabbits.
By several experiments Ziegler found
that fatal doses of pneumococci had
no effect whatsoever when preceded by
at least four days with strong injec-
ton of pneumocholin. Rabbits given
the same dose Of pneumococci without
the pneumocholin invariably died OF
pneumonia. Curiously enough when
the drug was administered simulta-
neouSly with the pneumococci there
was no effect on the disease and the
rabbits died. The new substance evil
IDENTIFY requires some time to produce
its immunizing effect, SO that this is
not apparent before the third or fourth
day.
This Ziegler believes, establishes the
value Of the substance as an antigen
or pneumonia preventive, which might
be applied to whole populations in the
face OF pneumonia epidemic. as in
school or army camp. Thus, it
may be, pneumocholin might have re-
of the great influenza epidemic where
the deaths, in a large number Of cases
actually were due to pneumonia. 1t is
not known how long the immunity lasts
Ziegler's rabbits were immune to fatal
doses Of pneumococci after 49 days. He
believes that it lasts at least three or
four months and possibly much longer
The value of pneumocholin as a spe-
cific curative agent after patient ac-
tually IS i'll with pneumonia Is not en-
tirely cleared up by the experiments
Pneumonia usually kills a rabbit in
about three days, but Ziegler was able
to regulate the dose, so that the life OF
the control animals could be prolonged
for as much as seven days. Then the
same dose and the pneumocholin were
administered at the same time and the
treated rabbits survived.
Effect Is Powerful.
The tentative conclusion is that, as
in the antigen experiments, the new
chemical requires about four days be-
fore it has any measurable effect what
ever, but that afterward it has a pow
erful and almost immediate therapeutic
effect.
In man." Ziegler says, death from
lobar pneumonia seldom occurs before
the fifth day, and often is delayed from
one to three weeks or longer. This
slower course In man would give time
for the pneumochoGn to induce i'm
munity.
There are three potential uses for
pneumocholin," he concludes. 1.-The
first and most important use would be
for prophylaxis. How long the i'm
munity will last can only be deter
mined by future experiments. If 1t
were to last for three or four months
only it would be worth while in such
places as military camps and during
epidemics.
"A second and promising use would
be in therapy. It can undoubtedly be
used in treatment Of pneumococcus in
fectionS to increase the body'S resist
ance. The experiments indicate that
fatal terminations cannot be obviated
unless there Is grace period Of three
to four days after treatment.
"A third use would be for antiserum
production. This, so far, is entirely
hypothetical. It is possible that it will
produce antisera when injected into
animals in q manner analogous to the
production of diphtheria or scarlet
fever antisera.
ut is believed that an effective pneu-
mocholin can be prepared for each
type Of pneumococci. It is further be-
lieved that pneumochoIn is not type
specific, but this remains to be demon
strated."
$69, 9,568,751 IN FUND