THE RELATION OF THE SPLEEN TO BLOOD DESTRUCTION AND REGENERATION AND TO HEMOLYTIC JAUNDICE

Abstract

The anemia which develops after splenectomy is most marked in animals on a mixed table scrap diet of meat, bread, cereals, and vegetables, which is essentially a cooked diet. Control studies in which a unilateral nephrectomy precedes splenectomy demonstrate that the anemia is not due to operation, hemorrhage, or accidents of convalescence but develops only in the absence of the spleen. The results of studies of the influence of food containing a large amount of iron in presumably easily utilizable form, as in raw beef spleen, do not support the view that the anemia is due to lack of iron in the food. Observation on the influence of a diet of raw meat as contrasted with cooked meat shows a more severe anemia in animals on the cooked diet and suggests the possibility that heat alters some substance which, in the absence of the spleen, the body cannot utilize. A final conclusion in regard to this point must, however, await the results of more detailed studies now in progress.