PHYSIOLOGY AND EXPERIMENTAL PATHOLOGY 117 



Suprarenal Substitution 



Attempts have been made to replace the substances lacking in ex- 

 perimental suprarenal insufficiency. Extracts have been injected, .supra- 

 renal tissue has been administered by mouth and glands have been trans- 

 planted. 



Abelous and Langlois(a), Brown-Sequard(6) and Hultgren and An- 

 dersson claim to have produced temporary benefit from the injection of 

 suprarenal extract. The last mentioned workers found that the subcu- 

 taneous injection of this extract improved the general condition and 

 slightly relieved the asthenia. 



Strehl and Weiss prolonged the life of decapsulated animals for nine 

 hours longer than controls by the injection of suprarenal extract. 



Biedl says that he has treated a large number of animals, by feeding 

 with suprarenal tabloids previous to epinephrectomy for periods varying 

 from a few days to several weeks, the treatment being continued after 

 operation by means of subcutaneous injections of aqueous extract of 

 the suprarenal. The average length of life of the animals under treat- 

 ment was very little longer than that of the controls. 



Mariani was unable to prolong the life of decapsulated animals with 

 injections of suprarenal extracts of the same species. Moreover medul- 

 lary or cortical extracts of a different species hastened the death of 

 decapsulated animals. 



If the absence of epinephrin is one of the factors producing the symp- 

 toms of decapsulation its injection should ameliorate the condition. Hos- 

 kins and Rowley found that such injections were of no benefit. 



Suprarenal grafting has been attempted again and again. 



Canalis implanted pieces of suprarenal in the kidney and found that 

 they were absorbed. 



Abelous (1892) described what he supposed to be true grafts. These 

 were planted in normal frogs from which, after the former had healed 

 in, the suprarenals were removed. Twelve days afterwards removal of 

 the grafts caused the appearance of the typical deficiency syndrome. 

 Eight out of thirty cases were successful. To be conclusive a much longer 

 period should have elapsed for as the following experiments show these 

 transplants are absorbed in time. 



Langlois inserted fragments of the kidney with the suprarenal adhering 

 under the skin in the dorsal lymph sac of decapsulated frogs. Such 

 animals were found to survive somewhat longer than those frogs which 

 were simply decapsulated. They might live five or six days. At autopsy 

 the grafted glands were found to be partly absorbed, having in no way 

 established connection with the circulation. Gourfein likewise found that 

 grafts in frogs eventually disappeared (40 days). 



