USE OF CRYSTALLINE SOYBEAN TRYPSIN INHIBITOR IN ACUTE HEMORRHAGIC PANCREATITIS IN DOGS

THE ISOLATION of crystalline soybean trypsin inhibitor by Kunitz 1 in 1946 suggested the use of this material in the treatment of acute hemorrhagic pancreatitis. Coffee, Brinig, and Gillespie, 2 in 1950, while studying the abnormal tryptic activity of the blood in acute pancreatic necrosis, reported that the antitryptic index of the blood serum, carried out by the gelatin-digestion method, was significantly lowered both in experimental and in clinical pancreatic necrosis. In contrast, there was no change from the normal levels in pancreatic edema. The antitryptic index could be depressed by the use of crystalline soybean trypsin inhibitor. In this work, the antitrypsin appeared to protect small animals against toxic doses of trypsin and to modify the course of experimentally produced pancreatic peritonitis. Rush and Cliffton, 3 in 1951, in experiments on 12 dogs used soybean trypsin inhibitor in 3 of these animals with experimentally produced pancreatitis and concluded that