EFFECTS ON THE SUPRARENAL GLANDS 



427 



Recently Okuneff ('22) starved rabbits 9-15 days with loss of 30-40 

 per cent in body weight, and found that the suprarenal cortex contained fat, 

 both isotropic and anisotropic lipoids, in variable (usually considerable) amount. 

 In connection with the increased weight of the suprarenals, there is probably an 

 increase in the amount of lipoids, especially of cholesterin, associated with 

 hypercholesterinemia. Giglioli ('22), however, holds that the abundant sudano- 

 phile material found in the suprarenal cortex of fasting dogs represents not 

 lipoids, but either neutral fats or cholesterol derivatives. Thus the term 

 "lipoid" appears to be used differently by different authors. 



.B-tteAty 



F T Mo 



Mi 



I M 



Fig. hi. — Portion of a section of the suprarenal gland in an adult male albino rat (F. 4.2) 

 after 12 days of inanition on water only, with loss of 43 per cent in body weight. X90. 

 Technique, etc. as in Fig. 109. The liposomes still persist in the outer zone (0), but have 

 nearly disappeared elsewhere. A few are barely visible in the outer half of the middle zone 

 (Mo), and in the inner zone (/). (Jackson '19.) 



Medulla and Chromaffin Substance. — The variable change in the chromaffin 

 reaction of the suprarenal medulla in atrophic infants, as observed by Mattei 

 ('14), was mentioned above. In animal experiments, Venulet andDmitrowsky 

 ('10) found but slight decrease in the chromaffin reaction in a fasting rabbit with 

 loss of only 6 per cent in body weight; but nearly complete or total loss of the 

 chromaffin reaction with loss of 27.6-37.7 per cent in body weight. This was 

 not confirmed by Luksch ('n), who found no decrease in the chromaffin reaction, 

 or epinephrin content, by histological or physiological tests, in rabbits fasting 

 10-14 days. Kuriyama ('18) likewise found no marked change in the epineph- 

 rin content of 7 starved rabbits. 



On the other hand, Borberg ('12) found a decrease in the intensity of the 

 chromaffin reaction in a fasting cat and guinea pigs, especially at death from 

 starvation. He also cited similar results by Kose and Kawashima. Rondoni 

 and Montagnani ('15) likewise noted a decreased chromaffin reaction in the 

 suprarenal medulla of guinea pigs after acute or chronic inanition. Pellegrini 

 ('16) also found a decreased chromaffin reaction, especially in the later stages of 

 fasting, although there was no definite correlation with the duration of inanition 

 or the loss in body weight. 



