THE EFFECT OF ADRENOCORTICOTROPIC HORMONE AND CORTISONE ON THE SERUM HEXOSAMINE LEVEL IN ACUTE DISSEMINATED LUPUS ERYTHEMATOSUS*

Abstract

ACUTE disseminated lupus erythematosus is a systemic disease characterized by profound alterations of the connective tissue of the body (1). One of the striking changes is the presence of excess amounts of metachromatically-staining amorphous ground substance, which swells the tissues and separates the connective tissue fibers (2). Klemperer has identified this material histochemically as being composed largely of hyaluronic acid and probably chondroitin sulfuric acid (3). Since hexosamine constitutes approximately 40 per cent of each of these mucopolysaccharides and since serum contains appreciable amounts of bound hexosamine (glucosamine and galactosamine),1 it was deemed of interest to study the levels of circulating hexosamine in acute disseminated lupus erythematosus. The Medical Services of the Mount Sinai Hospital have had the unusual opportunity of studying 20 patients, with acute disseminated lupus erythematosus during the past year, 14 of whom were treated with either cortisone or adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH). Comprehensive reports of chemical and clinical studies of these patients appear elsewhere (4–6).