PARS GLANDULARIS AND METABOLISM 



ing of adrenal function as a result of hypophysectomy ac- 

 counts for the amelioration due to the latter operation. (An- 

 other possibility suggested by Long and Lukens is that 

 adrenalectomy suppresses the secretion of diabetogenic hor- 

 mone by the pars glandularis.) Insufficiency of epinephrine 

 appeared not to be responsible for the prolonged survival of 

 depancreatized-adrenalectomized cats. On the other hand, 

 adequate doses of adrenal cortical extract or of Kendall's 

 crystalline compound B prevent or restore, at least in rats, 

 the marked loss of the glycogen of liver or muscle and the 

 fall in the level of the blood glucose of fasting hypophysec- 

 tomized animals (Long and Katzin, 1938). 



It is, of course, important that there be agreement as to 

 the action or lack of action of anterior pituitary extract after 

 complete adrenalectomy. Houssay and Leloir (1935) con- 

 cluded that extract can cause a definite increase in the con- 

 centration of sugar in the blood of bilaterally adrenalecto- 

 mized dogs. On the other hand, the more extensive experi- 

 ments of Long and his associates in the cat and rat indicate 

 that, in the absence of adrenal cortical tissue, glycosuria or 

 an increase of glycosuria does not follow the injection of a 

 potent extract. ^"^ 



2. The ejfects of oestrogens. — Evidence that the injection of 

 large doses of oestrogen prolongs the survival period and 

 ameliorates the symptoms of pancreatic diabetes in the dog 

 and monkey was offered several years ago. Recently, Nelson 

 and Overholser (1936) published further details of their ex- 

 periments in monkeys and concluded that secretion of the 

 diabetogenic hormone by the pituitary is depressed, with 

 consequent improvement of the symptoms appearing after 

 pancreatectomy, if oestrogen in doses such as 300 rat-units of 

 oestrone be injected daily. Unfortunately, their observations 

 could not be confirmed by Collip, Selye, and Neufeld (1937), 

 who concluded that as much as i mg. of oestrin (oestrone?) 



^5 See also Anselmino and Hoffmann (1936) and Russell (1936). 



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