GB458885A - Improvements in and relating to diagnostic agents and the production thereof - Google Patents

Abstract

Preparations, for use in diagnosing carcinoma, sarcoma, and predisposition thereto, are obtained by retaining matter taken from the intestines of sufferers from these diseases at a pH of 5-6 until the bacteria coli are destroyed, transplanting a pure culture of the remaining bacteria to a nutrient solution containing fat, such as fatty milk, and cultivating the transplanted bacteria for some time, e.g. several days. The culture, e.g. from a carcinoma patient, is acidified (e.g. with sulphuric or phosphoric acid) and extracted by solvents such as ether or petroleum ether, preferably after a separation of protein matter by addition of alcohol or by heating. The acid substances in the organic extract are taken up in an alkaline solution, reprecipitated and redissolved in ether. The effective substances being of lower solubiilty are separated from palmitic &c. acids by fractional crystallization or by adsorption on kaolin, silica, &c. The substance so obtained is crystalline and readily soluble in organic solvents and has the character of a non-saturated high molecular fatty acid. When added in solution or suspension to clear extracts of carcinoma cells precipitates are formed, none being produced with other proteins. For the preparation of diagnostic material the substances are converted into alkali salts, dilute solutions of which when injected into healthy subjects cause some reddening and evanescent swelling, while in the case of those suffering from or predisposed to carcinoma a hard and sharply defined infiltration arises. Similar procedures are adapted to obtain products for sarcoma diagnosis. The products may be purified by distillation under vacuum; they may be stored in the crystalline form or in weakly acid aqueous suspension.