In a similar test I used 2 gm. of Lactopeptine No. 3, made up to 100 c.c. with 1.2 c.c. of normal alkali. Ten and 15 c.c. portions were incubated with 50 c.c. of 1 per cent. starch paste through twenty hours at 40 degrees with no apparent result. The Holadin then added, 5 mg. being used, completed the conversion in less than ten minutes.
This shows that the medium was a proper one for the test and that the Lactopeptine must be extremely weak. No sugar tests were made because the Lactopeptine contains milk sugar to the extent of about 60 per cent.
Similar results for both protein and starch digestives have been obtained in a large number of experiments. These here quoted show that the ferment activity of the preparation is so low as to merit no recognition practically. The digestion of a few milligrams of fibrin or starch after many hours of contact, while being perhaps scientifically possible, is of no value when we come to a consideration of the use of such bodies as digestive ferments in medicine.
The amount of lactic acid or “loosely combined HCl” present in Lactopeptine is very small, since the total acid which may be titrated by sodium hydroxid and phenolphthalein is measured by 0.5 c.c. of the normal hydroxid for 1 gm. of the Lactopeptine powder, in the mean. In different samples examined the range was found to be from 0.41 c.c. to 0.6 c.c. Tests with methyl orange, methyl red and other indicators showed that the free acidity is but trifling; if the whole of this acid, as measured by phenolphthalein, were calculated to HCl, the amount would be too small to have any appreciable physiologic activity, in view of the daily dose recommended, 10 to 20 grains of the powder.
Report of Referee B
The following table gives a summary of the results of my investigations on Lactopeptine. The numbers in the extreme left-hand column are the manufacturer’s identifying marks. These, it is assumed, run serially, the higher numbers indicating fresher specimens.
TABLE SHOWING ENZYMIC POWER OF LACTOPEPTINE PREPARATIONS
| Amylase | Pepsin | Rennin | Trypsin | Lipase | |
| 2275 | – | + | + | – | – |
| 2301 | – | + | + | – | – |
| 2312 | – | + | + | – | – |
| 2348 | – | + | + | – | – |
| 2352 | – | + | + | – | – |
| 2364 | – | + | + | +(?) | – |
| 2374 | – | + | + | – | +(?) |
| 2383 | – | + | + | + | +(?) |
| 1638 (tablets) | – | + | + | – | – |
| Pancreatin (Old) | – | .. | .. | ++ | – |
The conclusions in the foregoing summary depend on the following criteria:
Amylase: removal of starch (paste), small in proportion to begin with.