The Action of Histamine upon the Epinephrine Secretion from the Suprarenal Gland in Non=Anaesthetized Dogs

Abstract

1. The effect of histamine administration upon the epinephrine output rate was studied on non-anaesthetized dogs, according to the method of the lumbar route preparation of Satake and his co-workers. Histamine was injected intravenously in a dose of 1, 2, 3 and 5 mgrmns. per kilo of body weight.
2. With these doses of histamine, the epinephrine output rate was increased from 0.00002-0.00003mgrm. per kilo per minute to 0.0003-0.0007mgrm. per kilo per minute for one gland within 5 minu-tes after the injection; the magnification was ten- to thirty-fold. This increase was entirely due to the increase of the epinephrine concen-tration in the suprarenal vein blood. The longer the fall of blood pres-sure following the injection lasted, the longer lasted the hypersecretion of epinephrine. The blood sugar level was increased by histamine to a more or less marked degree.
3. There was found no evidence of increased output rate of epinephrine on histamine after denervation of the suprarenal gland by sectioning the splanchnic nerves. The output rate was rather dimin-ished owing to the decreased blood flow through the gland.
Thus, the peripheral effect of histamine on the epinephrine dis-charge, which has been described by some previous investigators on the cat, was not confirmed in the present investigations on dogs. The hyperglycaemic effect of histamine was much reduced after section of the splanchnic nerves on both sides.