EFFECTS OF RENIN AND THYROXINE IN RATS TREATED WITH CORTICOSTEROIDS AND IN RATS WITH REGENERATING ADRENALS1

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Abstract
Renin in rate with regener-ating adrenals provokes a syndrome of acute renal and vascular damage which although somewhat attenuated resembles the eclampsia-like syndrome elicited by renin in rats pretreated with exogenous corticosteroids. Contrary to previous observation, renin given from the onset of steroid treatment in increasing dosage caused the syndrome after about 10 days, indicating that this period is required for sensitization. The fact that thyroxine enhances hypertension and vascular damage due to adrenal steroids is confirmed. However contrary to renin, thyroxine does not require sensitization, since alone it produces nephrosclerosis, hypertension and fluid retention in uninephrectomized rats fed 1% saline. The syndrome provoked by thyroxine (alone, or, combined with steroids or adrenal enucleation) has some similarity (fluid retention and nervous symptoms) to that caused by DCA+renin; it differs in that renal glome-rular lesions are those of nephrosclerosis rather than those of thrombosis and that anasarca is infrequent. It seems likely that these differ-ences are qualitative and due to different basic mechanisms.