170 CORTEX 



low ebb. Severe infectious processes, malnutrition, avitamino- 

 sis, and similar debilitating agencies also render an animal less 

 reactive to many forms of stimulation. 



REPRODUCTIVE SYSTEM 



The reproductive function of animals in adrenal insufficiency 

 is in abeyance. 439 - 689 Although manifesting normal sexual ac- 

 tivity soon after adrenalectomy, this ceases when the symp- 

 toms of insufficiency are manifest. Male animals become im- 

 potent and females remain in a state of permanent diestrus. 

 These changes have been studied in detail in rats but similar 

 changes occur in the larger mammals. This dysfunction of 

 the reproductive system shall be described in greater detail in 

 Chapter XIV. 



LIVER AND KIDNEY 



Aside from the pathological manifestations described in the 

 preceding sections, functional tests will reveal dysfunction of 

 other visceral organs. Thus the liver is probably affected 

 judging from the abnormalities in the carbohydrate metabolism 

 described in Chapter XII. Whipple and Christman 269 found 

 the excretory power of the liver for the excretion of phthalein 

 dyes to be reduced by the removal of three-fourths or more of 

 the adrenal tissue. 



The kidney 549 likewise manifests an inability to excrete in- 

 jected urea or creatinine 438 and, as we shall see in Chapter XI, 

 the changes in the inorganic constituents of the blood in adre- 

 nal insufficiency are most likely due to renal dysfunction. 



It must be emphasized that all the physiological dysfunc- 

 tions described in the preceding sections do not manifest them- 

 selves immediately following adrenalectomy. For some time 

 the animal may be entirely normal. It is only when the supply 

 of cortical hormone present in the body has been exhausted 

 that insufficiency sets in with its attendant manifestations. 



