Simultaneous Determination of the Blood Sugar Content and the Epinephrine Output from the Suprarenal Gland in the Non=Anaesthetized, Non=Fastened Dog during Peptone Poisoning

Abstract

1. In the dogs, whose dorsal roots corresponding to the operation field were previously scctioned, the epinephrine liberation from the suprarenal body and the blood sugar content of the ear vein blood were simultaneously determined after an intravenous introduction of peptone in a dose of 0.1 to 0.3 grm. per kilo of body weight. Neither fastening nor anaesthesia was resorted to.
The epinephrine liberation began to accelerate with a short latency, say half a minute or less, reached its acme in some minutes or a little later, and recovered in a half to two hours or later. The acceleration of such a magnitude as five to thirty times of the preformative rate of liberation was observed in the dogs poisoned moderately or intensively. When too large a quantity of peptone was introduced, collapse developed consequently very early and rapidly and death ensued within a short time, the acceleration was very slight. The duration of acceleration also corresponded quite closely with that of poisoning symptoms; when the animal was still depressant the output was invariably greater than the preformative rate, that is, the rate of liberation under the quite physiological state, while the rate regained the initial value, when the animal behaved wholly normally. In short, fluctuation of rate of epinephrine discharge from the suprarenal capsule ran strikingly parallel with the symptoms of shock by peptone.
The blood sugar content fluctuated also after peptone. At first occurred, as a rule, hyperglycaemia of not very large magnitude. The acme was found one quarter to one hour after peptone, namely about at the midst of the depressant stage, and the level decreased then gradually, so that eventually hypoglycaemia of such a degree as 0.08-0.05% resulted. The lowest value was found usually two to three hours after injection, and in a further one to two hours the hypoglycaemia disappeared entirely. The moment at which the blood sugar level reached its smallest value was found therefore somewhat later than the recovery of the clinical symptoms as well as of the epinephrine discharge to their normal states.
In regard to the blood sugar fluctuation after peptone, the de-afferented dogs by no means differed from quite normal, viz. non-de-afferented ones.
2. Contrary to the results summarized in the above paragraph, no definite acceleration in the epinephrine liberation on administration of peptone was established by the cava pocket experiments under anaesthesia.