The effect of acute adrenalectomy on volume natriuresis in the rat.

Abstract

A correlation between sodium balance and adrenal mineralocorticoid secretion, at least in part mediated by the renin-angiotensin system, can be regarded as established 1. Disturbances of sodium balance are usually associated with parallel alterations in extracellular fluid volume; acutely induced alterations in extracellular fluid volume are known to be followed by appropriate change in renal excretion of water and sodium 2. It would be logical if the natriuretic component of this renal response were partly under the control of aldosterone, and indeed changes in blood volume following infusion or hemorrhage lead to reciprocal change in blood levels of aldosterone or angiotensin 3. Although it has been repeatedly emphasized that the renal reaction to altered aldosterone level is too slow to account for the prompt natriuresis which occurs with plasma volume expansion by infusions, a reduced level could contribute to the developed response. However, many investigators have shown that the natriuretic response...