INHIBITORY EFFECTS OF ESTRIOL-16,17-DISODIUM SUCCINATE ON LOCAL HAEMORRHAGES INDUCED BY SNAKE VENOM IN CANINE HEART-LUNG PREPARATIONS

Abstract

In heart-lung preparations of dogs, the effect of estriol-16, 17-disodium succinate was studied on circumscribed pulmonary hemorrhages induced by the local application of cobra venom on to the lung surface. Aqueous solutions of estriol-16, 17-disodlum succinate were either applied topically at the site of exposure to the venom, or added to the perfusing blood. Irrespective of the route of administration, estriol-16,17-disodium succinate delayed the appearance and diminished the intensity of the hemorrhages. The weak estrogenic activity of estriol-16,17-disodium succinate, the use of an isolated organ system and the rapidity with which it develops all suggest that the antihaemor-rhagic effect and the conventional estrogenic effects occur independently. The use of heparinized dogs and defibrinated blood both favour the view that the antihaemorrhagic effect observed was of vascular origin. Some possibilities regarding more detailed aspects of the mechanism of this effect are discussed.