614 CHEMICAL PATHOLOGY OF THE DCCTLEHH GLANDS 



metabolism of Addison's disease shows no very striking or character- 

 istic chang-es, over and above tliose associated with the emaciation. 

 Wolf and Thacher -^ found a decrease in endogenous creatine and 

 purine excretion, and some evidences of acidosis towards the end of 

 the disease ; deaminizing power and oxidation of cystine sulphur to 

 SO4 were not impaired. Eiselt believes that there is a toxocogenic 

 loss of tissue. 



Administration of adrenal tissue and extracts, or epinephrin, 

 whether by mouth or subcutaneously, is not efifective in ameliorating 

 the course of Addison's disease, at least in most cases. Thus, in 97 

 cases collected by Adams, -^ adrenal treatment caused some improve- 

 ment in 31, 43 M^ere not benefited, 7 were made M^orse, while 16 were 

 described as permanently improved. The most favorably- affected 

 is usually the muscular and gastro-intestinal asthenia, while the pig- 

 mentation is not usually altered. There is little effect on metabo- 

 lism.-'^ 



THE HYPOPHYSIS AND ACROMEGALY ai 



Although the hypophysis contains in its anterior lobe and in the 

 pars intermedia, a certain number of spaces filled with colloid and re- 

 sembling the alveoli of the thyroid in appearance, there is no evidence 

 that an appreciable amount of iodin is present here except when thera- 

 peutically administered.^- The posterior lobe contains an active diu- 

 retic and pressor substance,^* the exact nature of which is not yet 

 known, although in many respects its action resembles that of epine- 

 l)hrin. It seems less active in producing arteriosclerosis than is epine- 

 phrin, and its pressor effects are of longer duration. It seems to 

 stimulate smooth muscle without respect to innervation (thus differing 

 from epinephrin), but with a special potency in stimulating contrac- 

 tions of the uterus ; and hence it has a wide clinical use under the name 

 pituitrin. The chemical nature of pituitrin is not yet determined, but 

 it seems to be closely related to ^-iminazolylethylamine, the pressor 

 base derived from histidine, and which also stinnilates uterine con- 

 tractions. Injection of the posterior lobe extract lowers the assimila- 

 tion limit for carbohydrates and causes glycogenolysis (' rushing") .^^ 

 and is a powerful galactagogue (Ott). 



Removal of the anterior lobe of the gland in young animals is fol- 

 lowed by marked metabolic and developmental changes, notable being 

 adiposity, initritional changes in the skin and its appendages, sexual 



23 Arch. Int. Mod., 100!) (3). 4.3S. 



24 Praftitionor. VMVA (71). 472. 



2-. Uculonmiillcr iiiid Stolt/.enbcrfr, BiocliPin. Zcit.. 1010 (2S). 138. 



31 l''ull l)il)]ioLn'a|)li\' in tlio iii<)ii();,n"apli bv TTarv(>\' Cushiiifr. "Tlio Piiiiii:u\ Podv 

 and ils Disorders,"' IMiiladclpliia, 1012 :' also .\sclni.T. Ptliii;or"s .Vrcli.'. 1012 

 (]4(i), 1. 



32 Wells, Jour. Biol, flicin.. 1010 (7). 2.-)0. 



3-tT>(>\vis. :\lillor and IMatllunvs. Arch. Tnt. IMod.. 1011 (7), 7S.-) : llerriujr. Quart. 

 Jour. Kxp. Phvsiol., 1014 (S). 24") and 207. 



30 Sec also Pull. .lolms Hopkins' IIosp., 1013 (24). 40. 



