Kidneys under Strain in Uranium Nephritis. 147 



6. In a cat 15 weeks after the operation it was doubtful if any 

 epinephrin was present in the adrenal vein blood. In two others 

 15 weeks after operation eye reactions and segment tests showed 

 the presence of a small amount of epinephrin, the rate of liberation 

 being a mere fraction of the normal. The possibility of regenera- 

 tion of fibers after this interval must be considered. In the 

 seventh cat (tested two weeks after the operation) the eye reac- 

 tions were negative. The segment tests revealed a small concen- 

 tration of epinephrin in the adrenal blood (less than 1 : 30,000,000) 

 corresponding to a rate of liberation of epinephrin per minute 

 of at most one tenth of the normal. 



Abstracts of the Communications, Pacific Coast Branch, 

 Seventeenth Meeting, San Francisco, California, 

 April 4, 1917. 

 87 (1265) 



The function of the kidneys under strain in uranium nephritis 

 and the relationship between anatomy and function 

 under these conditions. 

 By C. K. Watanabe, J. R. Oliver, and T. Addis. 



[From the Laboratory of the Medical Division of Stanford University 



Medical School.] 



Rabbits were injected subcutaneously with uranium nitrate in 

 doses which varied from those which produced marked anatomical 

 and functional changes to those which led to no certain effect. 



A strain was placed on the urea-excreting function of the 

 kidneys by the administration of urea by stomach tube. 



While the kidneys were under the influence of this strain, the 

 volume of urine, the rate of urea excretion, and the concentration 

 of urea in the urine and blood were determined before and after 

 the injection of uranium. 



The most marked and constant functional change produced 

 by the uranium was found to be a depression of the ratio between 

 the rate of urea excretion and the concentration of urea in the 

 blood. The degree of depression in this ratio was fairly closely 

 parallel to the degree of anatomical damage, as judged from the 

 extent and intensity of the necrosis or of the degenerative changes 

 found in the terminal portion of the proximal convoluted tubule. 



