MANY REPORTS1 on the reactions to and side-effects of penicillin have been published, and in most cases these responses have been attributed to a specific sensitization to crystalline penicillin. However, there are a few authors who have described reactions which were thought to be caused by a different mechanism.
Blaich,2 in experiments with mice, found marked hyperemia in the ovaries and the vaginal mucosa and also observed an increase in the secretory function of the pancreas after injections of penicillin. In humans he observed a mild gastric hypersecretion in 50% of patients, following a single injection of penicillin. In a series of 29 women, he described hyperemia and haziness in the outline of capillaries investigated by means of capillary microscopy, both increasing with repeated doses of penicillin. He also noted a corresponding increase in capillary permeability in these patients. He attributed these findings to cholinergic stimulation.