STUDIES ON THE RELATIONSHIP OF THE ADRENAL CORTEX TO THE EXPERIMENTAL PRODUCTION OF HYPOFERREMIA IN RATS1

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Abstract
Adrenalectomy resulted in a significant decrease in the level of the plasma Fe of rats. This decrease was prevented by the daily admn. of small doses of adrenocortical extract or cortisone but not desoxycorticosterone acetate. Decreased food intake and decreased absorption of Fe were not the significant factors in the decrease of plasma Fe which followed adrenalectomy. The injn. of adrenocorticotrophic hormone (ACTH), adrenocortical extract, cortisone, desoxycorticosterone acetate, and turpentine produced acute hypoferremia in intact or sham operated rats. Adrenalectomy abolished the hypoferremia-producing effect of ACTH; adrenocortical extract and turpentine produced a significant hypoferremia in the absence of the adrenal cortex. Epinephrine failed to produce hypoferremia in sham operated rats but did so in adrenalectomized animals. Significant hypoferremia was produced in intact rats only by a very large dose of histamine. The results in rats have thus confirmed the observation in dogs that there is a relationship between the adrenal cortex and the development of hypoferremia following stress, and also have revealed that the adrenal cortex plays an essential role in the maintenance of the normal homeostasis of the plasma Fe level.