Influence of Induced Variations in Electrolyte and Water Exchanges with Pitressin in Bronchial Asthma.

Abstract

During the course of studies on the influence of various therapeutic procedures on the mineral and water exchanges in children suffering from bronchial asthma, it was observed that artificial fever was usually followed by remission of symptoms when the sodium chloride content of the diet was extremely low, but not when the intake of this salt was unrestricted. This observation suggested the desirability of examining more critically the relationship between the electrolyte and water balance in the mechanism of asthmatic attacks.Starling and Verney1 and McQuarrie, Manchester and Husted2 have shown that pitressin, the antidiuretic principle of the pituitary gland causes, not only a retention of body water, but a coincident absolute increase in the output of sodium and chloride in the normal subject. Therefore, when the sodium chloride intake is very low and the water intake is relatively high during a period of sustained pituitary antidiuresis, body water is retained without coincident storage of sodium chlo...