TY - JOUR T1 - ENhanced penetration of mucous membranes Y1 - 1949/07/30 N1 - 10.1001/jama.1949.02900480028009 JO - Journal of the American Medical Association SP - 1098 EP - 1099 VL - 140 IS - 13 N2 - 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 SN - 0002-9955 M3 - doi: 10.1001/jama.1949.02900480028009 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1001/jama.1949.02900480028009 ER -