Dibenzyline Protection Against Shock and Preservation of Hepatic Ferritin Systems

¹ From the Department of Medicine, Cornell University Medical College and the New York Hospital, New York City

Pretreatment with Dibenzyline, an adrenergic blocking agent, markedly increased the survival rate of normal, arenal or adrenalectomized rats subjected to drum trauma, and of normal rats subjected to prolonged hemorrhagic hypotension. In the latter a larger residual circulating blood volume was not responsible for the increased survival since average maximal blood loss was equal in treated and control rats. Congestion of the liver and gut, regularly seen in the controls, was notably absent in the Dibenzyline-protected rats. Direct microscopic observation of the terminal vascular bed in the mesoappendix, throughout the hemorrhagic procedure, revealed earlier appearance of decompensatory changes and increased vascular fragility in the controls. In livers removed at the end of the hemorrhagic and traumatic procedures, ferritin systems were preserved in treated rats, in contrast to their deterioration in controls. It is suggested that the protection conferred by pretreatment with Dibenzyline may not be due solely to its adrenergic blocking properties, but in part to a direct cellular action in the liver, exemplified by its in vitro protection of the ferritin systems against hypoxic damage.

Note:
with the technical assistance of Carla Ratzersdorfer, Iris Forbes and Anna Holmquest