330 cirrhosis patients were less able to ingest C. pseudotropicalis and C. albicans than were monocytes from the controls and were also less able to kill these yeasts. These findings indicate that monocytes from patients with hepatic cirrhosis have defective phagocytic and intracellular killing capacity. We conclude that, in addition to bypass of Kupffer cells, function of the monocyte-macrophage system is impaired in patients with alcoholic postnecrotic and cryptogenic cirrhosis. Departments of Internal Medicine and Histology and Cell Biology, Ichilov Hospital and Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv, Israel

D

A. HASSNER Y. KLETTER

excluded because urinary lead excretion, evaluated daily during the study, did not change. It may be useful to evaluate biochemical indices of haem biosynthesis as well as lead changes when evaluating 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid in lead poisoning. FRANCESCO CANDURA GIULIANO FRANCO Istituto di Medicina del Lavoro, TULLIO MALAMANI University of Pavia, LIONELLO SCALISI 24 - Pavia, Italy

M. JEDVAB M. ARONSON S. SHIBOLET

SULPHYDRYL COMPOUNDS IN LEAD POISONING on the treatof lead poisoning by 2,3-dimercaptosuccinic acid prompts us to record our experience with ot-mercaptopropionylglycine (CH3-CH.SH-CO.NH-CHz-COOH, a-M.P.G.), a well-known sulphydryl compound widely used in chronic liver disease. ot-M.P.G. removes the inhibition of erythrosyte 6-aminolwvulinic acid dehydratase (A.L.A.D.) activity caused by lead in vitro2 and in vivo, in rabbits.3 The clinical efficacy of ,-20 ug porphobilinogen/ml red blood-cells/h for erythrocyte A.L.A.D. activity;