Uremia and Host Defenses

IN the first edition of his Principles and Practice of Medicine, Sir William Osler stated that the clinical manifestations of uremia are caused by the retention of the excretory products. The nature of these poisonous ingredients is not yet known. It was formerly thought that the urea was the offending substance, and it has been found increased in the blood in uraemia.... It is more probable, however, that there are several toxic agents at work.¹ Nearly a century later, Ruiz et al.² have employed modern immunologic techniques to investigate one important aspect of the uremic syndrome — the effects . . .