A Sodium-Retaining Influence of Enucleate Rat Adrenal Glands1

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Abstract
The response of rats to a light fluid and Na load (5 ml/100 g of 0.2 or 0.9% NaCl) was determined after bilateral adrenal enucleation. For the first week, and particularly the first 72 hr after operation these animals had a marked inability, relative to either shamoperated or adrenalectomized controls, to excrete Na. The effect was not mimicked by adrenal trauma not involving enucleation but was blocked by ligation of the adrenal pedicle prior to enucleation, by the presence of one intact adrenal, by corticosterone or spironolactone. Although small doses of aldosterone in adrenalectomized animals essentially duplicated the effects of enucleation, indirect evidence, including failure to demonstrate its presence in adequate amounts, does not implicate aldosterone as the probable and as yet unidentified Na-retaining agent involved. Whatever its cause, this effect of adrenal enucleation could possibly be involved in initiating adrenal regeneration hypertension.