Evening star., 1941-04-07
Two New Chemicals
Stimulate Production
OF White Blood Cells
American Society Told
Of Alcohols Isolated
From Bone Marrow
BY THOMAS r. HENRY.
Star Star CORRESPONDENT.

BY THOMAS X. HENRY.
Star STAFF Correspondent.
ST. LOUIS, April 1.-Two alco-
holS, found hitherto only in the
bodies of sharks, may be the recruit
defense army of white blood eel
soldiers.
Isolation of them in the bone mar
row of mammals was announced be-
fore the American Chemical Society
meeting here today, by DR.. Harry N
Holmes of Oberlin College, the So
ciety's president elect.
Experiments with them are In
colleges and already they have been
shown to stimulate the production
of white blood cells in mice.
1t has long been known that when
any part of the body is threatened
with infection there is an immediate
increase in certain types of white
cells in the blood whose function
is to fight off the invaders. In ap-
pendicitis, for example, the number
is doubled. The blood count is one
of the means of diagnosing the dis
ease.
Fails i'm Some Persons.
In some persons this defense
mechanism fails Sometimes thi.
is due to an inherent disability
Sometimes it appears to follow ex-
! tenSive treatment with X-rays. II
has also been associated with uSt
of certain drugs, including sulfanila.
mide. Individuals with this disa.
bility will die of an infection which
can easily be thrown off by anybody
else.
The white cells come originally
from the marrow of the bone anc
Psychologists have sought for year,
the factors responsible for them
The Oberlin discovery appears to bt
long step in the right direction
They are parts of the non-fat por.
ton of bone marrow.
Nearly 20 years ago the two
alcohols-batyl and chimyl-were
found in shark liver oil by Japanese
chemists. They were only chemical
curiosities.
DR.. Holmes and his o-workers
announced that they had found
them in the bone marrow of cattle
about one ounce to 100 pounds
There is accumulating evidence that
they may be the factors that set of
the process of white cell formation
Nature Values 1t Highly.
Nature, DR.. Holmes pointed out
values marrow highly. judging by
the strong armor provided to protect
it. The British have special slender
marrow spoon" to use in digging
it out of a joint. Dogs, by some
inherent instinct, work hard to get
at it.
"A few years ago." said DR.. Holmes,
at was shown that use of certain
types Of sedatives weakened the
emergency mechanism of the human
body by which white cells are in
creased during infection. and often
lowered the normal white blood
count. This looked like a fifth
column at work in the body. Victims
might be swept away by an infection
that normal persons could readily
combat.
Such cases are not common, but
plenty of people have low white
blood count from one reason or an
other, and they might welcome a
bone marrow stimulant. Since these
white cells are made and matured in
the yellow bone marrow it is evident
that some chemical substance found
there is responsible for this neces-
sary manufacture. Bone marrow
itself is not an article of commerce,
so if the medical profession is to
have the use of aids in increasing
the white blood count during emer-
gencieS it is obvious that pure
chemicals must be isolated from
marrow, tested on animals, their
chemical structure determined, and
their syntheSis accomplished.
Work Has Been Done.
"All this has been done at Oberlin
Separation methods were difficult
and tedious, prolonging the work or
bone marrow about three years, but
at last three crystalline substances
of very high purity have been
isolated. One, of course, is choles-
terol. known to occur in every cell
of the body and especially in brain
and nerve.
Much more important, however
are the two higher alcohols, hither-
to known to occur only in marine
animal life. In studying the prop
critics of these alcohols reported to
have been isolated from shark liver
oil, we had hunch that these sub
stances bore at least slight re-
semblance to two of the white
crystalline solids we were isolatine
from bone marrow. Further in
vestigation proved this lucky hunch
to be correct"
DIR. Hudson Gets Award.
The annual Borden award for re-
search in the chemistry of milk
today was given to DR.. Claude S
Hudson, professor of chemistry at
the National Institute of Health in
Washington.
DR.. Hudson is considered the
worlds foremost authority on sugar
chemistry.
DR.. Charles L. Parsons of Wash
ington, secretary of the society, to-
day issued an appeal against draft
ing competent chemists for military
service.
The specific need at present, he
said, is materials rather than mer
and American industry is far under
manned with competent chamists.
THE situation is grave" DR.. Par
sons said, The supply of chemists
and chemical engineers does moi
now meet the demand. The demand
is increasing, but the prospective
output is falling more and more
rapidly below normal There are q
number of men with years of spe-
cial training, even with the doctorate
degree, who are serving in the Army
as privates where their specific abil-
ity is lost to the country. This
would not be permitted for a mo-
ment in Germany, England or Can.