Effect of intravenous infusion of corticosteroids on blood pressure, electrolytes, and water metabolism in sheep

Abstract

ACTH administration (80 IU/day for 5 days), which produces hypertension and charateristic metabolic effects in sheep (38), has been compared with the effect of intravenous infusion of cortisol (5 mg/h), corticosterone (0.5 mg/h), deoxycorticosterone (50 mug/h), and 11-deoxycortisol (1 mg/h), each given singly for 5 days. Further, a mixture consisting of aldosterone (3 mug/h), cortisol (5 mg/h), deoxycorticosterone (25 mug/h), corticosterone (0.5 mg/h), and 11-deoxycortisol (1 mg/h), was also infused intravenously for 5 days. In another series of experiments, 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone (100 mg/h) was also included in the combined-steroid solution. With the exception of 18-hydroxydeoxycorticosterone, which was not measured, the rates of infusionproduced peripheral arterial blood levels of the steroids similiar to those seen with ACTH stimulation. Blood pressure,water intake, urine output, and plasma and urinary electrolytes were measured: individual steroids had little effect on these, but manyof the metabolic changes produced by ATCH (hypokalemia and increased water intake andurine output) were produced by the combined-steroid infusion. However, the combined-steroid infusion failed to induce an increase in blood pressure similiar to that seen inthe ACTH experiments. Thus the findings are against a major role in ACTH hypertension for any steroid used, either singly or in combination. As yet unrecgnized factor/s may be involved in the ACTH-induced hypertension.