Function of the reticuloendothelial system. I. A study on the phenomenon of carbon clearance inhibition.

The inhibitory effect of heat-aggregated albumin on carbon clearance has been studied with respect to the dose-dependent relationships involved. It has been found that the dose of aggregated albumin does not affect the degree of inhibition but does affect the duration of inhibition. Above a critical dose the duration increases exponentially with increasing albumin dose. The addition of gelatin to the carbon suspension was found to produce two effects: (a) it prolonged the inhibitory effect of a given aggregated albumin dose, and (b) it produced a slowing in the rate of carbon removal. The fact that foreign red cells inhibit carbon clearance in a manner similar to denatured albumin suggests that the relationships observed relative to denatured albumin may be generally applicable to carbon clearance and indeed may have application to phagocytic particles other than carbon.