MAPHARSEN IN THE TREATMENT OF SYPHILIS: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

The trivalent arsenical preparation meta-amino-para-hydroxyphenylarsine oxide was studied originally by Ehrlich and Bertheim and later by Voegtlin and others and was found to be relatively toxic. It has generally been thought to be the most important effective product of the breaking down of the arsphenamines. It has been reinvestigated recently in the treatment of experimental trypanosomiasis and experimental syphilis by Prof. A. L. Tatum and Mr. G. A. Cooper of the department of pharmacology and toxicology of the University of Wisconsin. These investigators found that the therapeutic index and other properties were such as to make the drug more promising than any other single antisyphilitic agent known to them. Its administration twice a week for ten weeks in amounts considerably in excess of the therapeutic requirement did not cause evident intoxication in the experimental animals; hence it did not seem likely that cumulative effects would occur from its