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The method with 14C-putrescine as the substrate for routine measurement of serum (plasma) diamine oxidase (histaminase) during pregnancy, and mola hydatidosa (chorionepitelioma) has been modified. The optimal experimental conditions for determination of diamine oxidase (DAO) activity in normal human blood serum are given. Normal range for serum DAO is 0 to 20 mU/l. The majority, however, grouped around 4 mull, i.e., about '/SO0 of the serum DAO activity in the last trimester of normal pregnancy.Diamine oxidase (DAO, histaminase) catalyzes the oxidative deamination of histamine and diamines, e.g., putrescine and cadaverine. In Putrescine --I .4 -14C dihydrochloridc (5.37 rnCi/mmole) (New England Nuclear Corp.) was diluted with non-labelled putrescine dihydrochloride (Fluka AG) to give a 0.5 mM Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by McMaster University on 12/27/14 For personal use only. Scand J Clin Lab Invest Downloaded from informahealthcare.com by McMaster University on 12/27/14 For personal use only.

Amniotic fluid contains diamine oxidase (DAO) in high concentration, almost equal to that in maternal blood plasma (Tornqvist et. al, 1971). After rupture of the membranes the enzyme is demonstrable in the vagina and in the absence of vaginal bleeding the measurement of the DAO content of vaginal fluid has been shown to be a reliable method of resolving doubt about whether or not the membranes have ruptured.

Diamine oxidase (DAO) was purified from blood serum after intravenous heparin injection, from pregnancy blood serum and amniotic fluid. On DEAE-Sephadex, DAO from amniotic fluid as well as from pregnancy blood serum was separated in two active fractions with molecular weights of 245,000 and 485,000, respectively. Post-heparin blood serum contained only one active DAO fraction with a molecular weight of 185,000. The purified enzymes showed similar enzymatic properties.

Summary The effects of exercise and intravenous injection of adrenalin on venous haematocrit (VH), body haematocrit (BH), and body/venous haematocrit ratio (BH/VH) were studied in five horses before and, in four of them once to three times after splenectomy. BH was calculated as the total red‐cell volume, determined as the distribution space of 51Cr‐labelled erythrocytes, as a percentage of the total blood volume, calculated from the sum of the cell and the plasma volume. The latter was determined with the dilution method using Evans blue dye (T‐1824). Both exercise and adrenalin produced great increments of VH in the intact state. These effects were abolished by splenectomy. BH was virtually unaffected by adrenalin both before and after splenectomy. During basal conditions before splenectomy, BH/VH was high (averaging 1.648) and variable — the variation possibly depending on the erythrocyte‐storing capacity of the spleen as calculated from the difference between the total cell volume and the circulating cell volume at rest. Both adrenalin injection and removal of the spleen produced a decrease of the BH/VH value to nearly 1.0. The variability of the BH/VH value was also greatly diminished. After splenectomy, VH became intermediate between the highest post‐adrenalin level and the lowest resting level in the intact state. BH decreased after splenectomy to the same level as VH. These new equilibria were unaffected by time up to ten months after the operation. The variability of VH was determined as the standard deviation at serial sampling before and after removal of the spleen. Before the operation, the variation of VH comprised 10.23 per cent of the mean, as against 2.25 per cent after splenectomy. The variation in the intact state seemed to be positively dependent on the erythrocyte‐storing capacity of the spleen. From these observations it was concluded that the uneven distribution of red blood cells in the vascular system of the horse is largely due to a significant erythrocyte accumulation in the spleen. Further, it seems to be possible to bring about a redistribution of the erythrocytes by inducing mobilization of splenic blood by administration of adrenalin, whereby the haematocrit of the peripheral blood truly represents that of the whole of the blood. Zusammenfassung Der Einfluß der Splenektomie auf den Blutkreislauf I. Einfluß auf die Erythrozytenverteilung und den Hämatokritwert im peripheren Blut Die Auswirkungen körperlicher Arbeit und intravenöser Adrenalininjektion auf den venösen Haematokrit (VH), den Körper‐Haematokrit (BH) und Verhältnis der beiden (BH/VH) wurden bei 5 Pferden vor und bei 4 Pferden derselben Gruppe 1‐ bis 3mal nach Splenektomie untersucht. Der BH wurde aus dem Verhältnis des gesamten Erythrozytenvolumens (bestimmt aus dem Verteilungsraum von 51Cr‐markierten Erythrozyten) zum gesamten Blutvolumen (Summe von Zell‐ und Plasmavolumen) berechnet. Der Plasmavolumen wurde mittels der Verdünnungsmethode mit Evans blue dye (T‐1824) bestimmt. Sowohl die Körperarbeit als auch die Adrenaling...