Parallel studies of complement and blood coagulation. IX. The effect of methionine, choline, and cystine on the changes induced by ethionine.

Fatty livers were produced in guinea pigs by the repeated feeding or injection of ethionine; the acinar cells of the pancreas were also affected in some of the animals. Marked changes in plasma coagulability always occurred as well as a definite reduction in complement titer in which two or more of the major complement components were involved. Methionine displayed some protective effect against the fatty liver induced by the ethionine and was partially effective in controlling the coagulative changes and the decline in complement titer. In some animals, choline likewise ameliorated these conditions, whereas cystine tended to aggravate them. A combination of cystine and choline was more effective than choline alone.