EXTRACTS OF THE PARS NEURALIS 



fall in intraocular pressure and a miosis which was present 

 after the administration of 2 drops of i per cent atropine 

 sulphate. The fall in intraocular pressure apparently was 

 due to vasoconstriction. 



Reports on the action of posterior-lobe extract or of vaso- 

 pressor principle on the movements of the gastrointestinal 

 tract appear to require only brief mention.^ Posterior-lobe 

 vasopressor extract appears to be of considerable clinical 

 value in stimulating peristalsis of the lower part of the small 

 intestine and of the colon. 



It seems unlikely that the enormous doses of vasopressor 

 principle — e.g., 200 units subcutaneously in rabbits — used by 

 Dodds and his colleagues to produce gastric lesions such as 

 hemorrhage and ulceration are of any etiological significance 

 in the formation of such lesions under other circumstances.' 

 Large doses of posterior-lobe extract did not cause gastric 

 lesions in the guinea pig (McFarlane and McPhail, 1937). 

 Various studies of Dionessov (1936), Ejdinova (1936), Lan- 

 geron, Paget, and Danes (1936), Merkulow (1936), and Cut- 

 ting and others (1937) on the secretion of saliva, gastric juice, 

 succus entericus, and pancreatic juice indicate that the effect 

 of vasopressor principle is largely or entirely due to its vaso- 

 constrictor action on the blood vessels supplying the glandu- 

 lar secreting cells. 



The effects of posterior-lobe extracts on the metabolism of 

 water and minerals. — The important changes in the metabo- 

 lism of water and minerals following the injection of an ex- 

 tract of the posterior lobe are usually attributed to the vaso- 

 pressor principle. In anesthetized or, under certain condi- 

 tions, in non-anesthetized animals, the principal effect is an 

 increased rate of urinary secretion which recently has been 

 attributed to a change in the metabolism of salt, for which 

 water is required for renal excretion. In non-anesthetized 



' De Biasio (1935), Guthrie and Bargen (1936), Melville, Necheles, and others 

 (1936), and Frazier (1937). See also Schofield and Blount (1937). 



' See also Laporta, Pepe, and Marinelli (1936). 



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