Effect of partial adrenal cortical atrophy on the course of alloxan diabetes.

Abstract

IT IS well known that ablation of the adrenal gland (Long-Lukens animal) or of the pituitary (Houssay animal) will ameliorate pancreatic diabetes. The problem arises whether atrophy of part of the adrenal cortex produced by chemical agents might also produce this effect. The oral administration of DDD (2,2-bis (parachlorophenyl)-1,1-dichloroethane) was found by Nelson and Woodard (1949) to cause atrophy and disappearance of the inner zones of the adrenal cortex in the dog, and it has since been shown (Nichols and Gardner, 1951) that such animals show a degree of insulin sensitivity. These findings have been confirmed in the case of the rat by Brown (1952). If such atrophy of the adrenal should prevent or modify pancreatic diabetes without producing any sensitivity to potassium, the site of production of the hormone (s) responsible for maintenance of the diabetes could be presumptively localized to the inner zones of the cortex, and those responsible for electrolyte balance could be localized to the outer ...