THE PITUITARY BODY 



and antagonized the effect of male hormone ("Erugon") on 

 creatine-excretion. 



According to Perla and Sandberg (1936) creatinuria tran- 

 siently appears in male but not in female rats after hypophy- 

 sectomy. 



THE ANTERIOR PITUITARY AND THE METABOLISM 

 OF MINERALS; THE PITUITARY-PARA- 

 THYROID INTERRELATIONSHIP 



The pituitary body and the metabolism of minerals {^except 

 calcium). — Gerschman and Marenzi (1935) reported that the 

 injection of large doses of alkaline anterior pituitary extract 

 into hypophysectomized dogs was followed by a diminished 

 concentration of Na and CI in the blood, whereas the con- 

 centration of "CO2," glucose, Ca, Mg, and inorganic P was 

 elevated following this treatment. Friedgood and McLean 

 (1937), however, could not observe any change in the con- 

 centration of serum phosphate of guinea pigs receiving daily 

 injections of alkaline anterior pituitary extract for more than 

 a week. Perla and Sandberg (1936) found that hypophysec- 

 tomy accelerates the loss of P in the feces (but not in the 

 urine) of rats. Later, a study of the effects of partial or com- 

 plete hypophysectomy on the metabolism of water, Na, K, 

 CI, and S was made in rats by Sandberg, Perla, and Holly 

 (1937). The reader is referred to their article for a description 

 of their findings. That the concentration of Mg in blood is 

 greatly affected by anterior pituitary secretion is the belief of 

 Cannavo and Beninato (1935), who extended the work of 

 their laboratory in this aspect of mineral metabolism. The 

 pituitary of rabbits was irradiated by X-rays so that the pars 

 glandularis was severely injured and a cachexia followed by 

 death in 2-3 weeks appeared. The serum-concentration of 

 neither Ca nor inorganic P was clearly affected. About 10 

 days after irradiation the level of Mg was reduced from the 

 normal level (3.25-4.04 mg. per cent) to a new, lower level 

 (1.83-2.54 mg. per cent). The authors believed that the ex- 



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