Menstrual Discharge of Women. I. Its Toxicity in Rats. ∗

Conclusion

The menstrual discharge of women with normal cycles is highly toxic to rats through the production of vascular damage. The possibility that this toxicity is accountable to protein decomposition has not been conclusively ruled out, although the marked effect of hormonal conditions upon resistance appears to argue against this. The greatest susceptibility requires the presence of the ovaries. Functional corpora lutea afford partial protection, but the administration of estrogen overrides this action. Protection may be rendered by pretreatment with large amounts of progesterone, adrenal cortical extract or “immune” rabbit serum. The toxin appears to be intimately associated with a large moleculed protein material.