ENHANCED PENETRATION OF MUCOUS MEMBRANES

In 1928 Duran-Reynals¹ of the Rockefeller Institute described the presence in testicular extract of a factor which facilitates the spread of vaccine virus in the skin of rabbits. Ten years later Chain and Duthie² of Oxford University identified this "spreading factor" as a mucolytic enzyme (hyaluronidase), capable of depolymerizing and thus decreasing the viscosity of the intracellular mucin-like substance in rabbit skin. Hyaluronidase increased the interstitial spread of such diverse substances as india ink, rabies virus, methemoglobin, glucose and diphtheria toxin.

Therapeutic failure of penicillin when applied to nasal mucous membranes is sometimes attributed to the inability of the antibiotic to penetrate mucous surfaces and thus reach deep-seated foci of infection. Som³ and his associates of New York's Mount Sinai Hospital therefore tested the possibility of enhancing the penetration of penicillin through mucous membranes by the use of hyaluronidase.

Two groups of patients selected for these tests