THE HAEMOPOIETIC ACTIVITY OF THE NORMAL AND ABNORMAL HUMAN LIVER WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO PERNICIOUS ANAEMIA1

Wilkinson, 1933) we described experiments which lent support to the theory that pernicious anaemia is a type of deficiency disease characterized by the absence from the gastric secretion of a specific enzyme that we named ' haemopoietin'. We found that when various fractions from hog's stomach containing the thermolabile enzyme haemopoietin were incubated with beef muscle, crude haemopoietically-active material was obtained which was relatively heat-resistant, and we considered that these experiments effected in vitro the synthesis of a substance allied to or identical with the active principle in liver. We suggested that the enzyme haemopoietin, by acting on a substrate present in a normal diet, might produce in vivo a substance which is stored as the active principle in liver until it is required for red-cell forma-tion. Now, although the livers from various animals and fishes have been found to contain an active principle effective in the treatment of pernicious anaemia, the presence of a haemopoietically-active substance in the human liver has not so far been satisfactorily demonstrated. Since the theories we have put forward pre-supposed the presence of such an active principle in the liver of the normal human subject, and its absence in untreated cases of pernicious anaemia, it seemed of fundamental importance to test the haemo-poietic activity of various normal and abnormal human livers as suitable opportunities arose for the satisfactory elucidation of this aspect of the problem. The present paper reports the results we have obtained, using carefully chosen pathological and clinical material. Preparation of Liver Fractions In view of the difficulties associated with the preparation of potent pro-ducts for parenteral administration, we have thought it desirable to use the simplest and most widely-known method, of extraction, so that our wor