Low Protein Diet Augments Hyperproteinemia Produced by Repeated Injections of Homologous Plasma

Abstract

During recent years the use of plasma transfusions has become widespread and increasingly so of late as a result of war conditions. More and more the need for really large amounts of plasma in treating certain types of cases is being appreciated. The data presented in this paper should be of interest to those engaged in studying the quantitative aspects of such therapy. Further these data have certain theoretical impfications that bear upon the more general problems of plasma protein formation and protein metabolism.Hyperproteinemia can regularly be produced in dogs, and presumably in other species of animals, by repeated injections of plasma obtained from homologous donors. Almost none of the injected protein escapes in the urine as protein, nor is it eliminated quantitatively as increased urinary or fecal N2. While no direct measurements have been made in dogs, Addis' results following intraperitoneal injections of serum in rats (1) indicate that the protein content of all of the viscera and tissues is increased. The greatest increment is in the serum, next in the liver, but all organs and tissues show a definite increase in protein content.Practically all of the experiments to date (2-6) have been carried out with the recipient of the plasma or serum injections maintained in a fasting state or receiving only sugar, or sugar and fat, by mouth. A priori one would expect that plasma injections in an animal maintained on a full diet or a high protein diet would yield summation effects and result in a more marked hyperproteinemia. In the experiments reported below this does not happen; in fact, a significantly higher hyperproteinemia is produced when the animals are maintained on a low protein diet than when a high protein diet is given. This seeming paradox is open to a number of interpretations but all of them seem to imply an equilibrium between food, plasma, and tissue proteins.

Cirrhosis of the Liver in "Donor" Dogs Fed a High Fat Diet and Subjected to Repeated Bleedings

“…The 13 dogs which form the basis for this report were bled repeatedly for plasmapheresis and plasma injection experiments that have been reported elsewhere (4)(5)(6)(7). They were large, healthy, adult, mongrel dogs obtained from routine sources.…”

The Metabolism of Proteins and Amino Acids

“…After plasmapharesis no regeneration of plasma protein was observed in nine hours (20). In dogs maintained on low protein diets the hyperproteinemia produced by repeated injections of homologous plasma was greater than in dogs fed high protein diets, but the albumin-globulin ratio was lower (21). The hypoalbuminemia produced in dogs by three weeks of dietary protein deprivation could be corrected by the transfusions of large volumes of plasma daily (50 cc.…”