INFLUENCE OF THE DIET UPON THE NEPHROSCLEROSIS, PERIARTERITIS NODOSA AND CARDIAC LESIONS PRODUCED BY THE “ENDOCRINE KIDNEY”

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Abstract
Earlier observations had shown that nephrosclerosis, periarteritis nodosa and myocardiac lesions resembling rheumatic carditis can be produced in rats (especially after unilateral nephrectomy) by continuous exposure to various types of stress or treatment with either desoxycorticosterone or corticotrophic anterior-pituitary preparations. It was noted, however, that these pathologic changes are caused by the above agents only if the animals are kept on diets rich in sodium chloride; conversely, diets poor in NaCl (as well as those resulting in a loss of sodium because of added NH4Cl) protected our experimental animals against the above-mentioned changes normally produced by stress, desoxycorticosterone or anterior-pituitary preparations. A high protein content of the food failed to influence the renal and cardiovascular lesions caused by desoxycorticosterone acetate, but aggravated those caused by stress or crude anterior-pituitary extracts. (For literature see: Selye, 1946a; Selye, 1947a; Selye, 1947b.) More recently we found (Selye and Stone, 1946) that with a special surgical procedure it is possible to reduce the blood pressure in the left kidney of the rat to the level of the colloid-osmotic pressure of the blood.