ACUTE PORPHYRIA

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Abstract
With the increasing knowledge of the importance of porphyrin metabolism and with the increasing frequency with which porphyria has been reported, there has been widespread interest in this fundamental subject. There is lack of knowledge, however, of the biologic mechanisms involved as well as of the cause of the varied symptoms. In this connection I thought that the results of my observations, both clinical and pathologic, might be of interest. The porphyrins are widely distributed in nature.1 They form part of the complex molecule of hemoglobin, myoglobin and cytochrome. The porphyrins arise in the body during synthesis of hemoglobin rather than during its destruction, as had been previously assumed.2 A number of excellent comprehensive reviews of the subject of porphyrins have appeared in the recent literature,3 some of the reports being particularly pertinent to this paper. Small amounts of porphyrin of the isomeric series I and II