Preliminary experiments on the effect of methionine suplhoximine on the developing chick and on transplantable tumours / by Edward Mellanby.

  • Mellanby, Edward, Sir, 1884-1955
Date:
[1956?]
Catalogue details

Licence: In copyright

Credit: Preliminary experiments on the effect of methionine suplhoximine on the developing chick and on transplantable tumours / by Edward Mellanby. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    [Brit. J. Nutr. 1956, 10, 264.] [All rights reserved] printed in great Britain Preliminary experiments on the effect of methionine sulphoximine on the developing chick and on transplantable tumours By the late EDWARD MELLANBY Nutrition Building, National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London, N. W. 7 (Received 1 May 1956) FOREWORD By May Mellanby It will be recalled that my husband first described the toxic effects of agenized flour on animals in 1946 and was later concerned in the isolation of the toxic agent, methionine sulphoximine (Mellanby, 1946; Campbell, Work & Mellanby, 1951). In experiments with dogs, ferrets, rabbits and rats having in their diet either the treated flour or methionine sulphoximine, he found that degeneration of nerve cells and various pathological conditions of the alimentary tract often developed. His interest in the subject was not only academic; he felt that further work might lead to a better under¬ standing of epilepsy in man and probably other conditions similar to those observed in experimental animals. During the summer of 1954, according to his usual custom of returning to former studies when his interest was re-stimulated or when new tech¬ niques made a fresh approach possible, he decided to investigate the problem from other angles. In the first place, in order to determine the toxic effects of methionine sulphoximine, he began a series of tests on bone growth in tissue culture and planned later to explore its influence on neural and other tissues in vitro. Secondly, he began a comparative investigation of the condition of birds hatched from eggs injected with the sulphoximine or with a control substance, either methionine or saline. He also hoped to test its effect on transplantable tumours in animals, and had, in fact, an hour before he died written to Professor A. Haddow, of the Chester Beatty Research Institute, asking for a Jensen rat sarcoma, which had been used in much of his earlier work on cancer problems. After my husband’s death, those experiments that were in progress in this laboratory were completed. In addition, some preliminary tests on tumours were made on the lines which he had envisaged. For this purpose tumour-bearing rats and mice were obtained through the kindness of Professor Haddow. Later, Professor H. N. Green, of Leeds, also made a few tests with his strain of rats. Although the findings in each sec¬ tion of this work can only be regarded as preliminary, they are given here for various reasons, the chief one being that I, and all who have co-operated with me, hope that others may be stimulated to pursue this line of research. It is difficult to acknowledge the services so willingly given by many in completing