Table 41. — Adrenal weights of rats maintaining weight at different ages on SPM, SPB, and SPPB diets 





Rats 



Average 

 age 



Average 



body 



weight 



Adrenal weight 



Adrenals weighing — 



Diet and age of rats (days) 



Average 



Range 



Less than 

 15.0 mg. 



15.0 to 

 19.9 mg. 



20.0 to 

 29.9 mg. 



30.0 mg. 

 and over 



SPM: 



Less than 300. . . . 



Number 



13 



6 



2 



13 



7 

 3 



14 

 5 

 6 



Days 

 214 

 399 

 550 



214 

 413 

 549 



217 

 412 

 550 



Grams 

 553 

 672 

 624 



520 

 596 

 673 



535 

 644 



728 



Mg. 

 17.4 

 21.4 

 22. 4 



16. 9 



21. 2 



22. 2 



18.7 



20.8 

 23.7 



Mg. 

 7. 0-26. 3 

 19. 0-24. 

 19. 6, 25. 3 



11. 5-20. 3 

 16. 1-30. 8 

 19. 9-23. 6 



5. 7-28. 3 

 14. 2-26. 7 

 18. 6-29. 7 



Percent 



23 











31 

 

 



21 



20 







Percent 

 38 

 33 

 50 



38 

 43 

 33 



36 

 20 

 17 



Percent 

 38 

 67 

 50 



31 

 43 

 67 



43 

 60 

 83 



Percent 

 



300 to 499__ -__ 







500 to 599.- 







SPB: 



Less than 300.. 







300 to 499 



14 



500 to 599.. 







SPPB: 



Less than 300. 







300 to 499 







500 to 599.. . . 











Table 42. — Adrenal weights of rats losing weight in two age groups fed SPM, SPB, and SPPB diets 





Rats 



Average 

 age 



Average 



weight 



loss 



Adrenal weight 





Adren 



als weighing — 



Weight loss, age of rats 

 (days), and diet 



Average 



Range 



Less 

 than 

 15.0 

 mg. 



15.0 to 

 19.9 

 mg. 



20.0 to 

 29.9 

 mg. 



30.0 to 

 39.9 

 mg. 



40.0 

 mg. 

 and 



over 



Weight loss less than 100 

 grams: 



Less than 500 days: 

 SPM 



Number 



11 



9 



22 



7 



7 



10 



6 

 5 

 5 



7 

 13 



8 



Days 



358 

 308 

 338 



585 

 671 

 625 



421 

 450 

 397 



775 

 616 

 568 



Grams 



49 

 46 



42 



30 

 53 



66 



144 

 186 

 192 



207 

 186 



168 



Mg. 



23. 7 



24. 3 

 26.5 



28.9 

 34. 6 

 33.4 



25. 1 



36.5 

 36.9 



34.2 

 36.4 

 34.3 



Mg. 

 17. 7-36. 8 



15. 2-32. 1 

 12. 8-50. 2 



17. 0-39. 7 

 22. 9-47. 2 

 21. 1-45. 8 



16. 3-35. 7 



25. 5-48. 5 

 28. 9-52. 2 



26. 8-44. 9 

 16. 6-53. 8 

 24. 9-44. 4 



Percent 

 

 

 14 





 

 





 

 





 

 



Percent 

 36 

 22 

 9 



14 

 

 



33 

 

 







8 

 



Percent 

 45 

 56 

 55 



29 

 29 

 30 



50 

 40 

 40 



29 

 15 

 38 



Percent 

 18 

 22 

 14 



57 

 29 

 40 



16 

 20 

 20 



57 

 46 

 38 



Percent 

 



SPB 



SPPB 



500 days and older: 



SPM 



SPB 





 9 





 43 



SPPB 



30 



Weight loss more than 

 100 grams: 



Less than 500 days: 

 SPM 







SPB 



40 



SPPB 



40 



500 days and older: 

 SPM 



14 



SPB... 



31 



SPPB 



25 







the loss in body weight before sacrifice and many 

 of the differences observed seem to be related to 

 the extent of this loss. 



Adrenals tended to be relatively small in rats 

 fed SPE diet supplemented with vitamin B 6 with 

 or without choline, despite the extensive weight 

 loss of most of these rats. Exceedingly large 

 adrenals were observed in rats consuming 100 

 percent egg yolk or whole egg even before weight 

 loss became excessive. Supplementation of egg 

 yolk with 3 percent salt mixture resulted in a re- 

 duction in adrenal size from an average of 33.7 mg. 

 to 23.0 mg. Wistar rats, except for one with an 

 exceedingly large adrenal (91.7 mg.), tended to 

 have smaller adrenals than comparable BHE 



rats. Wistar rats fed SPE diet had generally 

 larger adrenals than did those rats fed SP 8 HVO 

 diet, thus showing a dietary response similar to 

 that observed with BHE rats. 



Discussion. — Although data on the weight of 

 rat adrenals have been reported by several investi- 

 gators, relatively little information is available 

 for animals comparable in size to the experimental 

 animals considered in this publication. As the 

 result of domestication of the wild Norway rat 

 (160), a marked decrease in adrenal weight has 

 occurred. Donaldson (50) reported 49 mg. as the 

 weight of two adrenals for 340-gram rats of the 

 Wistar strain. The value recorded by Freuden- 

 berger (70) for animals of comparable size is 



55 



