CHANGES IN CIRCULATING EOSINOPHILS IN JUVENILE DIABETICS IN RESPONSE TO EPINEPHRINE, ACTH AND HYPOGLYCEMIA*

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Abstract
THE alteration of carbohydrate metabolism in Cushing's syndrome and during ACTH (1) and cortisone (2) administration has led to the belief that, at least in some cases of diabetes mellitus, an elevated level of adrenal cortical function may be of etiologic significance. On the other hand, recent studies of the response of diabetics to stress (3) and determinations of urinary steroid excretion in diabetics (4, 5) have led some to the belief that perhaps there exists a degree of decreased adrenal cortical function. It has been demonstrated repeatedly that a variety of stress situations and the administration of ACTH and epinephrine all induce a pronounced fall in the level of circulating eosinophils, due presumably (except possibly for epinephrine) to stimulation of the adrenal cortex (6–11). This fact, together with the ease of counting eosinophils, has led to the introduction of the ACTH test (12) and the epinephrine test (13), both of which, within certain limits, are valuable tools for the estimation of adrenocortical function.