STUDIES ON THE SUPRARENAL CORTEX : IV. THE EFFECT OF SODIUM SALTS IN SUSTAINING THE SUPRARENALECTOMIZED DOG

1. A group of experiments is reported in which bilaterally suprarenalectomized adult male dogs have been maintained in apparently normal condition over prolonged periods, up to 5 months, without the use of any suprarenal gland preparation or extract and by the administration of sodium chloride and sodium bicarbonate alone. Withdrawal of the salts then produced typical suprarenal insufficiency. 2. The relation of the absence of free hydrochloric acid in the gastric juice of suprarenalectomized animals, in addition to, or independent of the factor of dehydration, for the production of anorexia and hypoglycemia, is discussed. 3. Further evidence is presented in these experiments in support of the view that the suprarenal cortical hormone in the adult male dog is concerned with the regulation of sodium excretion by the kidney, and thus eventually with the proper maintenance of water balance in the organism. It has no direct influence on carbohydrate metabolism. 4. The reciprocal changes in the plasma concentrations of urea and of potassium which take place as the concentrations of plasma sodium and chlorides vary, are pointed out as furnishing a mechanism whereby abrupt alterations in osmotic pressure are dampened, and the volumes of fluids in extracellular and intracellular compartments more efficiently stabilized.