RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN OXYGEN CONSUMPTION AND NITROGEN METABOLISM

Abstract

In a previous communication¹ we presented evidence of a decrease in the total oxygen consumption during induced remissions in pernicious anemia. A relationship between the oxygen consumption and nitrogenous metabolism was discussed. The data in the present report were obtained by metabolic studies in leukemia, another disease group in which there is an altered rate of oxygen consumption without a recognized disturbance in thyroid function. We again wish to stress the relationship between oxygen consumption and nitrogenous metabolism. The published reports of metabolic studies in leukemia contain much important information, but the established facts have not been satisfactorily correlated. We do not propose to present an exhaustive review of the literature but rather to mention only those observations which bear directly on our present problems. It is quite universally agreed that the rate of oxygen consumption is increased, sometime during the course, in all forms of leukemia. REVIEW OF