EFFECT OF PANCREATIC ACHYLIA ON VITAMIN K ABSORPTION AND PROTHROMBIN TIME

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Abstract
Pancreatic achylia, produced in adult cats by section of the pancreatic ducts, or by pancreatectomy either partial or complete, was accompanied by a variable, but at times, striking prolongation of prothrombin time. Whole blood clotting time was moderately prolonged but there was little change in the bleeding times. Spontaneous hemorrhage was seldom observed. A rough parallel could be drawn between the degree of alteration of stool lipids and the elevation of the prothrombin times. Both values were increased more prominently in the early postoperative period and tended toward gradual restoration of the normal. A marked reduction in Vit. K content of the livers of the cats subjected to operation was demonstrated by feeding the pulverized tissue to deficient chicks. The mechanism by which the pancreas affects clotting of the blood was as follows: the reduction in digestion and absorption of lipids, attendant upon loss of external pancreatic secretion, results in a partial deficiency in the fat soluble Vit. K. If the deficiency is sufficiently pronounced, there is prolongation of the prothrombin clotting time.

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