STUDIES ON WATER INTOXICATION IN ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS AND THE INFLUENCE OF DESOXYCORTICOSTERONE ACETATE (DCA) AND EPINEPHRINE IN WATER DIURESIS

Abstract

DESOXYCORTICOSTERONE. ACETATE (D.C.A.) has been shown to be effective not only in maintaining the life of bilaterally adrenalectomized animals but as a protective agent when normal and adrenalectomized animals are subjected to excessive amounts of water by mouth. This phenomenon of water intoxication has been described by Rowntree (1926) and it is now generally agreed that the cause of convulsions and death resulting from large amounts of water is due to excessive hydration of tissue cells with marked depletion of plasma electrolytes. Failure of adrenalectomized animals to excrete water normally when large amounts of water are ingested has been associated with adrenal dysfunction (Rigler 1935; Swingle et al. 1937; Gaunt et al. 1937; Shipley 1945; Stein and Wertheimer 1944; Hays and Mathieson 1945) but the mechanism is still not clear.