CHEMOTHERAPY IN STREPTOCOCCIC INFECTIONS

Since the significant paper of Domagk¹ in 1935, renewed interest has developed in the possibility of chemotherapy in streptococcic diseases. A dark red dye synthesized by Mietzsch and Klarer seemed promising in animal protection experiments. The dye is the hydrochloride of 4'-sulfamido-2: 4-diaminoazobenzene. Its toxicity both for mice and for human beings is remarkably slight. In Domagk's report "prontosil," as this dye has been named, was administered by stomach tube to twelve of twenty-six mice an hour and a half after intraperitoneal inoculation with virulent hemolytic streptococci of human origin. All of the twelve that received the dye survived at least seven days. Of the remaining fourteen animals, which served as untreated controls, thirteen were dead within three days and the fourteenth died on the fourth day. Partial corroboration of Domagk's work has been published by Levaditi and Vaisman and considerable suggestive clinical data have been supplied by other