STUDIES ON THE ADRENAL AND THYROID GLANDS OF THE GROUND SQUIRREL DURING HIBERNATION

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Abstract
SUMMARY: Hibernation in the ground squirrel ends within 1–2 hr after total adrenalectomy and does not recur. Survival time after adrenalectomy in laboratory-kept ground squirrels during November and December was longer than it was during September-October and February-March. Body temperature during hibernation (4–18° C) was restored to normal (37° C) within 1–2 hr after adrenalectomy, the animals being kept in a room at 17° C. Oxygen consumption was measured in ground squirrels on the 6th and 7th days after adrenalectomy at 31–32° and 4° C respectively. Maximum consumption occurred at 4° C; normal body temperature was retained. The 131I uptake by the thyroid of non-hibernating ground squirrels is considerably smaller in early Autumn (September-October) than during the winter months. Radioactive iodine is not accumulated by the thyroid gland of the hibernating ground squirrel, but 3 days after adrenalectomy the amount of 131I accumulated is equivalent to that taken up by the gland of the non-hibernating animal. The effects of adrenalectomy in the hibernating and non-hibernating ground squirrel are compared with those obtained in hypothermic rats maintained in similar environmental conditions.

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