ON THE NATURE OF THE ECZEMATOGENIC COMPONENT OF OXIDIZED DELTA-3-CARENE

[摘要] It had earlier been shown that dermatitis due to turpentine is caused not by the hydrocarbons but by oxidation products. By means of displacement absorption on a microscale (ad modum Blohm), concentration of an eczematogenic factor had been accomplished with a series of different terpenes of varying degrees of purity. On the basis of these facts further experiments were conducted with a view to elucidating the nature of the active factor. For this purpose a highly purified, well-defined [DELTA] 3-carene (a characteristic constituent of Swedish turpentine) was taken as the specimen fluid. Attempts to isolate an active factor directly from oxidized [DELTA] 3 -carene (by distillation) gave negative results due to the thermolability of the product sought. It was found, moreover, that although concentration on a microscale had succeeded, the unstable nature of the factor made concentration on a macroscale impossible. Since direct isolation of the component sought had failed, an indirect method of investigation was resorted to. To a well-defined, highly purified [DELTA] 3 -carene were added, step by step, known amounts of oxygen, and the various stages of oxidation were studied by means of independent chemical and physicochemical methods. Skin tests made parallel therewith suggested that formation of eczematogenically active factors was related solely to the initial phase of oxidation. Judging by data from the chemical investigation of the [DELTA] 3-carene-oxygen reaction[long dash]which are only touched upon here and will shortly be presented in the chemical literature[long dash]the eczematogenic factor is probably formed from a monomolecular hydroperoxide of [DELTA] 3 -carene. Definite verification of this, and elucidation of the molecular structure, will not be possible, of course, until direct isolation has succeeded. To that end the experiments are proceeding. From the theoretically calculated molecular weight of the active factor it is found that amounts of about 20 [gamma] will produce positive cutaneous reactions.