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Partially purified kinin, a polypeptide in wasp venom, has been found to be a potent smoothmuscle stimulating and hypotensive agent. Such a preparation was 10 to 100 times more effective than histamine in enhancing capillary permeability on intradermal injection, and 10 times more effective than acetylcholine in evoking pain on a cutaneous blister base. Silva, 1955) are potent polypeptides, with many properties in common. All are known to produce a characteristic delayed slow contraction of the isolated guinea-pig ileum, and to lower markedly the arterial blood pressure of the rabbit and cat on intravenous injection. They are stable in neutral or acidic, but not in alkaline, solution; they are insoluble in anhydrous acetone or ether, and are rapidly inactivated by chymotrypsin. Kinin occurs in large quantities, together with histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine, in the venom of the common wasp (V. vulgaris); kallidin and bradykinin are released from the a1 globulin fraction of serum by the action of kallikrein and trypsin (or B. jararaca venom) respectively. In view of their similar properties it was of interest to extend previous studies of these three substances and to compare their properties under the same conditions. Preliminary results of such a comparison have been reported to the Physiological Society (Holdstock, Mathias and Schachter, 1956).In the present experiments kinin has been further purified and characterized chemically and pharmacologically. It has been found to be extremely effective in enhancing capillary permeability and in evoking cutaneous pain on application to a blister base. Kallidin and bradykinin were also shown to increase capillary permeability. The different methods of preparing kallidin and bradykinin were compared, and some modifications of previous methods are described.Despite their many common properties, kinin has been definitely distinguished from kallidin and bradykinin. The latter two substances, however, were not successfully distinguished by pharmacological or chemical tests, and must be closely similar, or possibly identical, compounds. MEMODSIsolated Smooth Muscle and Arterial Blood Pressure. Preparations of guinea-pig ileum, rabbit intestine, and rat uterus were suspended in Tyrode solution in an 18 ml. bath. Guinea-pig and rabbit intestine were kept at 34 to 36°C. and rat uterus (anoestrous) at 26 to 280 C., the latter temperature being required to eliminate spontaneous activity in this preparation. Atropine (0.2 ,ug.) and mepyramine (0.4 jsg.) were added to the bath before each test, except when assaying for histamine, in which case mepyramine was omitted. Usually the polypeptide was in contact with the tissue for 60 sec.Dogs were anaesthetized by intravenous injection of a mixture of chloralose (50 mg./kg.) and urethane (500 mg./kg.); rabbits received pentobarbitone sodium (30 mg./kg.) intravenously, supplemented by ether. The substances tested were injected into the femoral vein and the arterial blood pressure was recorded with a mercury manometer from a carotid a...

EDITORIAL COMMENT Near maximal infusions of pentagastrin were found to have no consistent effect upon motility except in the gastric antrum. The results suggest that gastrin is not directly concerned in the mediation of the gastro-colic reflex.

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SUMMARY The motor responses of the proximal colon, sigmoid, and rectum to the ingestion of a standard meal have been compared in patients with total gastrectomy, pernicious anaemia, or duodenal ulcer. Colonic pressure activity increased during and after food in all the patients, but this was only once associated with propulsive activity. The results suggest that the postprandial pressure activity in the sigmoid colon is greater after total gastrectomy than in the other two groups. It is concluded that entry of food into the upper small intestine is the most important factor in initiating the colonic pressure response to food, since this response does not require the presence of the stomach, acid, antral gastrin, or of vagal innervation.

Case 2.-Female aged 23 years. Iprindole prescribed for postinfluenzal depression. Hb and E.S.R. normal. Eight days after first taking the drug suddenly developed pain in the right hypochondrium and right posterior chest with transient fever (temperature taken by the patient and found to be 101'F. (38-3'C.)). When seen on the tenth day, apyrexial, marked tenderness present in the right hypochondrium, definite clinical jaundice. Urine strongly positive for bile.

Summary A case is described of adult coeliac disease with subepithelial collagen in a jejunal biopsy (‘collagenous sprue’) which responded well to treatment with prednisolone in addition to a gluten-free diet. The indications for corticosteroid treatment in adult coeliac disease are discussed in the light of the findings. It is suggested that collagenous sprue may represent the most severe form of adult coeliac disease, and the presence of sub-epithelial collagen in a jejunal biopsy may be the strongest indication for treatment with the combination of a gluten-free diet and corticosteroids.

SUMMARY The effect of intravenous infusion of gastrin II on gastric and colonic motor activity was studied in 12 patients; gastric acid output was also measured. Administration of gastrin at nearmaximal dose levels stimulates the motor activity of the antrum but has no measurable effect on the activity of the proximal colon, sigmoid, or rectum. The results suggest that gastrin plays a part in the regulation of gastric motility but that it is not a mediator of the gastro-colic reflex.In this paper we report the effects of gastrin II infused intravenously, in doses that produce submaximal stimulation of gastric acid secretion, on gastric and colonic motility. The aim was to simulate with exogenous gastrin such physiological responses to food as may occur in man (Rune, 1966) Makhlouf, McManus, and Card (1964), who found that in a normal subject continuous intravenous infusion of gastrin at 67.17 ,ug/hour (_ 0-8 gg/kg/hour) produced a near-maximal and at 12-73 rig/hour (-015 ,ug/kg/hour) submaximal acid output.All the tests were performed on patients fasting overnight. There were two series of observations (Fig. la). Series 1 (seven patients) consisted of six consecutive halfhourly observation periods (periods I to VI), which corresponded to the six periods of the previous pentagastrin study Because the observations carried out in the series 1 tests did not show a clear effect of gastrin on motility, the procedule was modified for the subsequent series 2