Dose–Effect Relationship in Desoxycorticosterone Hypertension : Reduced Sensitivity in Adrenalectomized Rats and Its Possible Significance to the Etiology of Adrenal-Regeneration Hypertension

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Experiments were conducted to determine the smallest dose of DOCA which would cause saline polydipsia and induce hypertensive disease in unilaterally nephrectomized rats. This was found to be about 25 μg/day with the dosages used. This dose, and one five times as great, were then used to compare the sensitivity of adrenalectomized rats with that of animals having intact adrenals. Completely adrenalectomized animals were less responsive to the blood pressure effect at either dosage, whereas animals with regenerating or accessory adrenal glands were even more so. Adrenalectomized animals given either dosage of hormone had a lower serum protein concentration, red cell count, hematocrit, hemoglobin concentration, and red cell volume than did controls, but these parameters were within normal limits in animals found at necropsy to have residual or regenerating adrenal tissue. The hematologic characteristics appear to be useful criteria for distinguishing, during the course of experimentation, completely adrenalectomized rats from those having residual adrenal function. Clearly adrenal insufficiency diminishes the ability of DOCA to induce high blood pressure, and therefore it appears unlikely that adrenal-regeneration hypertension in the rat can be ascribed to heightened sensitivity to mineralocorticoid activity during the state of adrenal insufficiency.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: