THE INFLUENCE OF INFLAMMATION ON THE ABSORPTION OF SUBSTANCES OF VARIED DIFFUSIBILITY

1. Inflammation retards the absorption of horse serum globulin and crystalline egg albumin from the peritoneal cavity and subcutaneous tissue, but retardation of the absorption of crystalline egg albumin is less than that of globulin, which is less diffusible. 2. Inflammation retards the absorption of the specific polysaccharide of pneumococcus Type I from the peritoneal cavity; inflammation may accelerate, but does not hinder, the absorption of glucose from the peritoneal cavity. 3. Inflammation retards the spread of trypan blue in the skin, but accelerates absorption from the skin of the more diffusible dye, brom phenol blue. 4. Phenol red is excreted in the urine with equal rapidity after injection into normal and into inflamed subcutaneous tissue or into normal and into inflamed peritoneal cavities. Direct extractions of phenol red from inflamed subcutaneous sites indicate that inflammation accelerates the absorption of the dye from these areas. 5. Inflammation retards the absorption of the indiffusible proteins, carbohydrates and dyes; it tends to accelerate the absorption of the diffusible carbohydrates and dyes.