An experimental study of the influence of kidney extracts and of the serum of animals with renal lesions upon the blood pressure

Abstract

1. Extracts of the rabbit's kidney injected into the rabbit cause a slight increase in blood pressure which is barely more than that due to the mechanical effect of the injection. 2. Extracts of the dog's kidney injected into the dog cause a decided fall in pressure; an equal fall may be caused by the dog's urine. A series of control experiments indicates that the fall caused by the kidney extract may be due to the urinary salts which it contains. 3. Extracts of cat's kidney cause a rise in pressure; as the cat's urine causes a fall, this rise in pressure indicates the possibility of a kidney extract containing a pressor substance which cannot be influenced by the depressor substance of the urine. 4. Rabbit's kidney which in the rabbit produces a slight rise when injected into the dog causes a drop comparable to that caused by the dog's kidney itself. Similarly the dog's kidney, which injected into the dog causes a drop, produces in the rabbit a rise analogous to that produced by rabbit's kidney. It is evident therefore that these pressor and depressor substances of the kidneys in question do not have a constant effect on all animals as do the extracts of the adrenal gland.