On the presence of beta-imidazolethylamine in the intestinal wall : with a method of isolating a bacillus from the alimentary canal which converts histidine into this substance / by Edward Mellanby and F.W. Twort.

  • Mellanby, Edward, Sir, 1884-1955.
Date:
[1912?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: On the presence of beta-imidazolethylamine in the intestinal wall : with a method of isolating a bacillus from the alimentary canal which converts histidine into this substance / by Edward Mellanby and F.W. Twort. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [-Reprinted from the Journal of Physiology, Vol. XLV. Nos. 1 do 2, August 2, 1912.] ON THE PRESENCE OF /?-IMIDAZOLETHYL AMINE IN THE INTESTINAL WALL ; WITH A METHOD OF ISOLATING A BACILLUS FROM THE ALIMEN¬ TARY CANAL WHICH CONVERTS HISTIDINE INTO THIS SUBSTANCE. By EDWARD MELLANBY {Beit Memorial Research Fellow), and F. W. TWORT {Super¬ intendent of the Brown Institution, London University). {From the Physiological Laboratory of St Thomas's Hospital, and the Brown Institution, London University.) /3-imidazolethylamine, the base produced by splitting off carbon dioxide from histidine, has recently become of great interest, in the first place, because of its potent physiological properties, and secondly, because of its peculiar distribution in nature. Barger and Daled) showed in their investigations on the physiological action of ergot that, of the various substances isolated which cause contraction of the uterus, this histidine base is by far the most powerful. Kutscher(2), at the same time and independently, isolated a substance from ergot having chemical and physiological properties almost identical with those of /3-imidazolethylamine. A further point of interest is that Barger and Dale(3) have isolated this substance from the mucous membrane of ox small intestine. They were led to make this investigation by the similarity in physiological action between /3-imidazolethylamine and the hypo¬ thetical substance called by Popielski(4) “ vaso-dilatin.” This substance was supposed to be accountable for the marked depressant effect produced by extracts of tissues, particularly extracts of the intestinal mucosa, when injected into animals. Such extracts also produce a characteristic contraction of the uterus. In consequence of the isolation of the base from the intestinal wall by Barger and Dale, it may be assumed that this substance is largely responsible for the physiological properties of extracts of the mucous membrane of the alimentary canal.