Comparison of Insulin Hypersensitivity of Adrenalectomized and of Hypophysectomized Dogs.

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Abstract
The insulin hypersensitivity of 7 adrenalectomized dogs was compared with that of 12 hypophysectomized dogs in which completeness of hypophysectomy was established histologically by a serial-section technic. Adrenalectomized dogs were more sensitive to insulin than normal dogs but less sensitive than hypophysectomized dogs using different doses of insulin/kg, body wt. intraven. This was true even when the adrenalectomized dogs were without desoxycorticosterone acetate maintenance for periods of 8-14 days and gave evidence of being steroid-free by virtue of their low serum Na level. The hypersensitivity of the adrenalectomized dogs approached that of the hypophysectomized dogs only when the former lacked the ability to retain food and thereby fasted for more than 40 hrs., i.e., they were tested in a pre-mortal state. In this state the hypersensitivity of the adrenalectomized dogs could not be compared with that of the hypophysectomized dogs, since the latter were tested in the postabsorptive state only at which time they already exhibited a maximal hypersensitivity. Thus, adrenal cortical atrophy is an important factor in the production of the insulin hypersensitivity of the hypophysectomized dog.