A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF SERUM AND LYMPH FERMENTS AFTER FEEDING

In these experiments in which the lymph and serum ferments and antiferment have been studied separately, the changes that are found to occur are uniform and consistent. Possibly as a result of increased blood flow through the ferment-producing organs a moderate amount of protease is directly absorbed into the blood stream, but when intestinal digestion is actively under way this rapidly diminishes in extent. If any protease is absorbed during digestion from the gastrointestinal tract it is probably removed when it reaches the liver. The ereptase, or peptidase, is evidently absorbed directly from the intestinal tract and enters the circulation through the lymphatic channels. The influence of the diet on the antiferment of the lymph is striking and accounts for the fluctuations observed in previous experiments. Following the milk meal the increase occurs gradually in the lymph in an amount that, when diluted in the blood stream, would be only nominal. When the fats of the milk were replaced by olive oil in large amounts it is surprising to find a decrease in the antiferment instead of an increase in titer, as might be expected in view of the nature of the antiferment. This result, however, is probably due to the fact that the antiferment lipoids of the serum and lymph may exist in both water and fat dispersion phases, but are active as antiferments only when in the former. If the amount of the fats of the serum is increased, as it is after the olive oil feeding, more of the antiferment will enter the fat phase and will as a result be rendered inactive. When the feeding included the sodium oleate, the anti-ferment was in consequence increased in both the serum and the lymph, some of the soap being apparently absorbed directly into the blood stream. It is possible that the titer of the antiferment may be altered, therefore, by means of selective feeding.