Leukocytosis following the Intramuscular

The observations submitted in this paper record the effect of the intramuscular injection of liver extract on the total number of white cells and polymorphonuclear neutrophiles in the peripheral circulating blood of normal individuals. The stimulating effect of the oral ingestion of whole liver on the formed elements of the blood other than the red cells and the reticulocytes was first recognized by Murphy, Monroe and Fitz (1). These observations were substantiated by Minot and Murphy (2) in a large group of patients with pernicious anemia. In a more recent paper on the parenteral use of liver extract in pernicious anemia Murphy (3) recorded " a prompt and marked increase " in the number of polymorphonuclear neutrophiles within a few hours after the intramuscular injection of an extract prepared by Lederle Laboratories, Inc. The experimental work herein reported was undertaken to determine the effect of injections of liver extract on the leukocytic count of normal subjects. Should it prove possible to stimulate a leukocytosis by this procedure in normal individuals, it was hoped that the observation might be utilized clinically in the treatment of patients with chronic sepsis and a persistently low level of leukocytes.