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Abstract
Caladium seguinum, dem die Volksempirie einen sterilisierenden Effekt zuschreibt, zeigt im Tierversuch folgende Wirkung:
1.
Männliche Tiere werden durchschnittlich nach 40–90 Behandlungstagen zeugungsunfähig;
2.
weibliche Tiere nach 30–50 Behandlungstagen konzeptionsunfähig;
3.
ein Wirkungsunterschied zwischen peroraler und subcutaner Verabfolgung des Caladiumextraktes ist nicht erkennbar.
Parallel mit diesen Funktionsausfällen gehen tiefgreifende anatomische Veränderungen:
1.
Makroskopisch Verkleinerung und Schrumpfung des gesamten männlichen Genitalapparates (Hoden, Nebenhoden, Vas deferens, Samenblase
und Prostata);
2.
mikroskopisch beim männlichen Tier völliges Sistieren der Spermiogenese und weitgehende Destruktion des spermiogenen Gewebes,
Involution des Epithels im Vas deferens, Prostata und Samenblase;
3.
beim weiblichen Tier Luteinisierung des Ovars und reduzierte Follikelbildung;
4.
die histologischen Veränderungen an Vas deferens, Prostata und Samenblase besitzen eine auffallende Ähnlichkeit mit Kastrationsveränderungen.
Dagegen ist die Umbildung der Caladiumhypophyse nicht so ausgesprochen wie an der Kastratenhypophyse.
Whether the Medical Trial dealt adequately with race, eugenics and genocide has been a matter of debate. Alexander saw the experiments as driven by an annihilatory creed of race and extermination. Their aim was to induce death, and experiments on poison gas were a test bed for the Final Solution. The genocide operation required experts in physiology, statistics, public health and genetics to weed out racial undesirables.
Beide Hodenfunktionen, die exkretorische der Samenproduktion und die inkretorische der Androgenbildung können auf verschiedenen Wegen ausgeschaltet werden, sei es daß beide infolge des Eingriffes gleichzeitig ausfallen, sei es daß nur die eine erlischt, während die andere aufrechterhalten bleibt. Die Folge der Ausschaltung der Samenproduktion ist die Sterilität, diejenige der Ausschaltung der Androgenbildung oder Androgenwirkung ist die Aufhebung der Virilität, der männlichen Prägung des Organismus Im folgenden sollen beide, soweit möglich, getrennt behandelt werden.
Zusammenfassung A. In Versuchen an männlichen jungen Ratten bestätigen wir zunächst die VersuchsergebnissePolaks:
1.
Unter Zusatz von a) 2% Oxamid, b) 3% CaCO3 zu der angegebenen Kost gelingt die Erzeugung von Nieren- und Blasensteinen mit ausreichender Sicherheit.
2.
Die Methode ist zur Prüfung therapeutischer Fragestellungen geeignet.
B. Die angegebene Methode zur experimentellen Erzeugung von Harnkonkrementen wurde als Test für die Prüfung von Rubia tinctorum
verwendet. Die Prüfung ergab:
1.
Die durch 2%ige Oxamidkost bewirkte Konkrementbildung konnte bisher durch Rubiateep nur im Sinne einer schwachen Störung der
Steinbildung beeinflußt werden.
2.
Die durch 3%ige CaCO3-Kost bewirkte Konkrementbildung konnte durch Rubiateep im Sinne einer ausgesprochenen Hemmung, meist sogar einer totalen
Verhinderung der Steinbildung beeinflußt werden.
Über 80% der Tiere blieben von der Konkrementbildung ganz verschont. Während eine Kontrollgruppe insgesamt 615 mg Steine in
Niere und Blase aufwiesen, fanden sich bei einer noch größeren, mit Rubia gefütterten Gruppe nur 0,8 mg Nieren- und 10 mg
Blasensteine.
3.
Der Wirkungsmechanismus von Rubia tinctorum ist noch ungeklärt.
Es gelingt, die empirisch beobachtete Heilwirkung von Lycopus (Wolfsfuß) bei Hyperthyreosen tierexperimentell weitgehend zu
bestätigen. Daß Lycopus in erster Linie dem thyreotropen Hormon der Hypophyse und nur bei ausgewählter Versuchsanordnung dem
Thyroxin als unmittelbarem Schilddrüsenhormon entgegenwirkt, geht aus folgenden Einzelergebnissen hervor:
1.
Thyroxinwirkungen als solche (Gewichtsverlust, Tachykardie, Schutz gegen Acetonitril) konnten mit Ausnahme der Novocaintemperaturreaktion
durch Lycopus nicht beeinflußt werden.
2.
Die Wirkungen des thyreotropen Hormons dagegen werden durch Lycopus aufgehoben, gemessen am Acetonitriltest, im Stoffwechselversuch
sowie am Metamorphose- und Wachstumstest von Kaulquappen.
Die vergleichenden Untersuchungen zeigen, daß die geschilderten Wirkungen nicht nur Lycopus virginicus, der therapeutisch
bisher ausschließlich verwendeten Art, sondern auch Lycopus europaeus zukommen.
Die Ergebnisse werden besprochen und die sich daraus ergebenden Fragen über den Angriffspunkt der Lycopuswirkung erörtert.
This chapter presents the epidemiological and experimental evidence showing the importance of secondary metabolites of Fusarium microfungi in the etiologies of the human cancers of sex organs, the digestive tract and the brain. Fusarial secondary metabolites are sporadically present in livestock feeds and have been recognized as the cause of a variety of disorders, “mycotoxicoses,” some of which are fatal. The carcinogenic potentialities of fusarial mycotoxins have yet to be fully evaluated. Though the available experimental data are scanty, epidemiological and circumstantial evidence strongly indicates that the prevention of common human cancers may largely depend on the decrease or elimination of carcinogenic mycotoxins from the environment and food. Large scale disasters caused by mycotoxins occurred in people who were usually undernourished in the form of ergotism among populations consuming rye bread contaminated with ergot alkaloids produced by Claviceps purpurea. The greater efficacy of few large doses of such “natural” carcinogens over that of continuous low dosage tends to induce tolerance. The main hazards of mycotoxins appear related to the occasional exposure to very high levels as a result of unusual weather conditions.
A series of tests was undertaken to evaluate the toxicity of Dieffenbachia and also to elucidate the toxic constituent(s). The juice of two species of Dieffenbachia were used, D. picta and D. exotica. The reaction of the albino Wistar rat to the instillation of the juice from the plant into the oral cavity was very similar to the reaction observed in the human upon accidental ingestion. Single-dose oral toxicity determination in rats showed an LD50 > 160 ml/kg. An eye irritation study in albino rabbits showed principally conjunctival involvement and some reversible damage to the cornea. An oxalic acid determination on the whole plant and on the juice of D. exotica gave values of 0.37% and 0.15%, respectively; for D. picta, 0.21% and 0.10%. Blood histamine concentrations were determined on rats treated with the juice of D. picta, and the levels were significantly increased over those of untreated animals. Histologic examination of tongue tissue from animals treated with Dieffenbachia juice showed edema, vascular congestion, degeneration of the basement membrane, and an inflammatory reaction. Trypsin digestion of the juice decreased the toxicity observed in the rat mouth. Rats pretreated with diphenhydramine hydrochloride, histologically showed some protection to the effects of the juice, but treatment with cortisone acetate only delayed the reaction.The toxicity of the juice is attributed to a labile “proteinlike” substance, not to the oxalate content as previously believed. The mechanism of toxicity seems to be associated with histamine release.
Dieffenbachia may well be the most toxic genus in the Araceae. Calcium oxalate crystals, a protein and a nitrogen-free compound have been implicated in the toxicity, but the available evidence is unclear. The plants have also been used as food, medicine, stimulants, and to inflict punishment.
In 1941 a proposal was made to Nazi SS Reichsführer, Heinrich Himmler, that extracts of a South American plant, Dieffenbachia seguine, might be used for the mass sterilization of racially undesirable war prisoners. The proposal was based on published animal fertility research conducted by Dr Gerhard Madaus, co-founder of a firm that produced and marketed natural medicinals. His fertility experiments were part of a broader series aimed at evaluating the scientific validity of ethnobotanical folk-knowledge. This article traces the historical background to the Madaus research: first, the role of homeopathy in the introduction of Dieffenbachias to western medicine; secondly, the social context of German 'alternative' medicine in the interwar period; and finally, the role of Madaus himself, whose homeopathically-oriented research on botanical medicinals inadvertently initiated the chain of events described here.
An extensive list of plant materials used historically by various cultures for fertility alteration was compiled and is presented. The authors working alone initially accumulated a list of more than 100 plants reported to contain substances that affect human reproduction. These were divided into 3 categories: 1) so-called oral contraceptives thought to cause temporary sterility (e.g. Lithospermum ruderale used by Southwest American indians for fertility control); 2) substances which in certain doses are believed to interfere with implantation or gestation but which may prove to be in the 1st class if used in smaller concentrations (e.g. unripe pineapple American mistletoe and green coconuts); and 3) emmenagogues plant materials believed to affect menstruation many of which after investigation might be put in Class 1 when their active principles have been isolated and their therapeutic value determined (e.g. begonia squaw root and rosemary).
Dieffenbachia is a common domestic plant. Oral contact with the plant usually is associated with minimal consequences. However, chewing on the stem or the leaf of the Dieffenbachia can result in painful oropharyngeal edema and the inability to speak or handle secretions. Airway compromise has been reported only in a pediatric ingestion. We report a case of an adult who bit into the stem of the plant thinking it was sugar cane. He instantly spit out the remaining stem and despite this brief exposure, oropharyngeal edema developed refractory to medicinal therapy, requiring surgical airway management. The exact mechanism of edema is not known; therefore, methods of treatment are variable. We recommend caution when presented with a patient exposed to Dieffenbachia. Even the patient who initially seems stable may have an airway that will quickly deteriorate.
This article has no abstract; the first 100 words appear below.
SCIENCE under dictatorship becomes subordinated to the guiding philosophy of the dictatorship. Irrespective of other ideologic trappings, the guiding philosophic principle of recent dictatorships, including that of the Nazis, has been Hegelian in that what has been considered "rational utility" and corresponding doctrine and planning has replaced moral, ethical and religious values. Nazi propaganda was highly effective in perverting public opinion and public conscience, in a remarkably short time. In the medical profession this expressed itself in a rapid decline in standards of professional ethics. Medical science in Nazi Germany collaborated with this Hegelian trend particularly in the following enterprises: . . .
Source Information
BOSTON
*Instructor in psychiatry, Tufts College Medical School; director, Neurobiologic Unit, Division of Psychiatric Research, Boston State Hospital; formerly, consultant to the Secretary of War, on duty with the Office of the Chief of Counsel for War Crimes, Nuremberg, United States Zone of Germany, 1946–1947.
Lehrbuch der biologischen Heilmittel. Abt. I: Heilpflanzen, Bd
- Madaus
- Weber U Mitarbeiter
- Weber