AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF THE ADRENAL CORTEX

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Abstract
I. The average survival period of 43 cats after removal of both adrenals was 53 hrs. If the cortex of 1 adrenal is left with undisturbed blood supply, the animals survive indefinitely, but die within a few days if this surgically produced cortical (interrenal) gland is removed. In 8 cases of of 19 listed, this remnant proved histologically to consist solely of cortical tissue. An accessory cortical gland accounted for the survival of 1 animal. Transplants of adrenal cortex prolonged life in epinephrectomized cats, but degeneration of the graft eventually caused death. The adrenal cortex is concluded to be the part of the adrenal complex essential for life. II. Thyroidectomy prolongs the life of animals deprived of their adrenals. The absence of the thyroid apparently tends to decrease the elimination of water, and the symptoms of adrenal insufficiency, which strikingly resemble those of anhydremia, are postponed. Conversely, an excess of thyroid substance, produced by daily feeding of the desiccated gland during the interval between the removal of the 1st and 2nd adrenal, hastens the death of epinephrectomized animals. The excess thyroid appears to add to the dehydration effect following adrenal extirpation. The oral administration of 5% glucose solution considerably prolongs the life of epinephrectomized cats.

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