THE PITUITARY BODY 



Farlane and McPhail, 1937). Oilman and Goodman (1935, 

 1937) attributed the effect to marked water retention, so 

 that dilution of the blood renders the environment of the 

 erythrocytes so unfavorable that a hemolytic anemia is pro- 

 duced. Using rats, Arnold and Marx (1937) observed hemo- 

 globinuria which they also believed to be due to intravascular 

 hemolysis. Arnold and Marx administered subcutaneously 

 15 units of posterior-lobe extract for each 100 gm. of body- 

 weight. 



In patients with edema chiefly caused by renal disease con- 

 siderable excess water can be removed during the diuresis 

 which follows diuresis inhibition induced by vasopressor prin- 

 ciple (McQuarrie, Thompson, and Ziegler, 1936). "Pitres- 

 sin" was repeatedly injected, until the retention of water 

 was represented by an increase of 3-4 per cent in weight. 

 Administration of the hormone was then stopped abruptly. 

 During the subsequent diuresis, edema fluid often was re- 

 moved, especially if the diet was low in NaCl. The balance 

 of NaCl was negative during both phases of renal secretion, 

 whereas that of K, Ca, P, and N appeared not to be efi^ected.'^ 



It will be recalled that, if frogs are kept in water, the in- 

 jection of posterior-lobe extract promotes the transfer of 

 water through the skin (and perhaps its retention), so that 

 the body-weight increases. In confirmation of earlier work, 

 Oldham (1936) found that the oxytocic principle is 2.5-5.0 

 times as efl^ective as the vasopressor hormone in causing this 

 efi^ect. The chromatosome-dispersing hormone probably is 

 not a factor (Jones and Steggerda, 1935; Oldham, 1936). 

 There is no agreement as to the action of posterior-lobe ex- 

 tract on the kidneys of the frog. Rey (1935) concluded that 

 diuresis inhibition can be produced in either dry or wet frogs 

 by a large dose of extract (about i unit injected into the 



'■* See also the preliminary report of Smith and MacKay (1936), who studied the 

 action of posterior-lobe extract on the intake and urinary excretion of NaCl in a 

 normal man and in a patient with diabetes insipidus. Beltrametti (1935) believed 

 that oestrogens or androgens favor the secretion of vasopressor hormone and thus 

 are useful in the treatment of diabetes insipidus. 



[268] 



