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A B S T R A C T The membrane organization of the erythrocytes from patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy was studied by means of electron spin resonance. The fluiidity of the membrane near the polar region of Duchenine muscular dystrophy ervthrocytes was similar to that of normal erythrocytes. The membrane environment in the nonpolar region, however, was quite different from that of normal erythrocytes, judged by the spectra with 2-(14-carboxytetradecyl) -2 -ethyl -4,4 -dimethyl -3 -oxazolidinvloxyl as probe. The temperature dependence of the ratio of the line height of central field to that at the low field showed two inflection points in normal erythrocytes at pH 7.4 (13.5°-16.5°and 37.5°-40.5°C, respectively) but the inflection point in the lower temperature range was not detected in Duchenne muscular dystrophy erythrocytes. When pH was varied, an abrupt decrease in the ratio was observed at pH 5.9-5.6 in normal erythrocytes whereas there was a gradual decrease over the range of pH from 6.6 to 5.0 in Duchenne muscular dystrophy erythrocytes.The rate of reduction of the radical 2-(3-carboxypropyl)-4,4-dimethyl-2-tridecyl-3-oxazolidinyloxyl by ascorbate in normal erythrocytes was faster than that in Duchenne muscular dystrophy erythrocytes. Treatment of both erythrocytes with phloretin markedly reduced the rate of reduction by ascorbate and eliminated the difference in the two types of erythrocyte. These results indicate that in Duchenne muscular dystrophy the erythrocyte membrane is involved as well as the muscle cell.

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Considerable evidence has been accumulated to indicate that the liver is concerned in the metabolism of steroids (1). The development of methods for the measurement of 17-hydroxycorticosteroids in the plasma (2) and in the urine (3) has enabled us to study the role of the liver in the handling of 17-hydroxycorticosterone (hydrocortisone) and related compounds. This communication will consider the plasma levels and the urinary excretion of the 17-hydroxycorticoids in patients with liver disease as compared with a group of normal subjects. MATERIALS AND METHODSTwelve patients with liver disease and eleven normal subjects were studied. Of the twelve patients with liver disease, there were nine with cirrhosis, two with hepatitis and one with metastatic carcinoma. Serial studies were carried out in the patients with hepatitis to note the effects of improvement in liver function. The "normal subjects" were hospital personnel or convalescing hospital patients who were free of liver disease, fever, and endocrine abnormalities.These subjects were given intravenously a solution containing 0.02 per cent hydrocortisone (free alcohol), 5 per cent dextrose and 1 per cent alcohol. A sufficient quantity of this commercially-prepared solution.2 was administered to give the subject 1 mg. of hydrocortisone for each kilogram of body weight.Control bloods were drawn shortly after 8 A.M., following which the infusion was administered over a 30-minute period. Blood samples for the estimation of the 17-hydroxycorticosteroid level of the plasma were drawn at 1, 2, 4, and 6 hours after the beginning of the infusion. After the infusion, the subjects were allowed to have breakfast and to be up and about, if they were ambulatory.The plasma was separated within two hours and stored in a frozen state until the analysis could be carried out. The estimation of the plasma 17-hydroxycorticosteroid