Effect of Pituitrin and Adrenalin on Urea Excretion. 49 



30 (1208) 



The effect of pituitrin and adrenalin on the urea-excreting func- 

 tion of the kidney. 



By T. Addis and G. D. Barnett. 



[From the Medical Division of Stanford University Medical School, 



San Francisco.] 



When the rate of urea excretion is determined for successive 

 periods of time of short duration (15 to 75 minutes) changes in 

 the rate are frequently noted which cannot be accounted for by 

 synchronous alterations in the concentration of urea in the blood. 



Such a change in the rate of urea excretion may be produced 

 in man by the intravenous injection of pituitrin (Parke, Davis & 

 Co.). Immediately after the injection there is a decrease in the 

 rate of urea excretion without any corresponding alteration in 

 blood urea concentration. 



In rabbits whose kidneys were placed under conditions calling 

 for a maximal exercise of their urea-excreting function by the 

 administration of 5 grams of urea by stomach tube, the subcuta- 

 neous injection of 0.25 c.c. of pituitrin was accompanied by a de- 

 crease in the hourly rate of urea excretion, although the blood urea 

 concentration was not lower than in control experiments, in which 

 no pituitrin was given. 



Adrenalin (Parke, Davis & Co.) injected subcutaneously in 

 doses of 0.5 c.c. of 1 in 1,000 solution into rabbits under the same 

 conditions did not alter the hourly rate of urea excretion, although 

 the blood urea concentration was not so high as in the control 

 experiments without adrenalin. 



Pituitrin therefore decreases, and adrenalin increases, the urea- 

 excreting capacity of the kidneys. 



