Serum Protein in Dermatoses

The role of the proteins of the blood serum in disease has been for the past few years a subject of study by many investigators. Epstein,1in 1917, was the first to suggest that hypoproteinemia is the direct cause of edema in nephrosis. Many years before that, Starling2first perceived the importance of the osmotic pressure of the proteins of the serum in preventing passage of the fluids of the plasma across the walls of capillaries into tissue. From the studies of serum proteins in edemas, investigations were made of plasma proteins in many other types of disease. In 1936, Williams and Gutman3found a change in the blood protein fractions in lymphogranuloma venereum. Studies were also made by Howard and others4in lymphogranuloma venereum and in syphilis. Granuloma inguinale, kala azar, schistosomiasis, sarcoidosis and generalized tuberculosis have been found to