THE INFLUENCE OF THYROID FEEDING UPON CAR- 
BOHYDRATE METABOLISM. II. 
THE EPINEPHRINE CONTENT OF THE ADRENALS OF THYROID- 
FED RATS. 
By SHIGENOBU KURIYAMA. 
{From the Sheffield Laboratory of Physiological Chemistry, Yale University, 
New Haven.) 
(Received for publication, November 26, 1917.) 
In my previous investigations,! the epinephrine content of the ad- 
renals of white rats, fed on thyroid for a few days, was little different 
from that of control animals. A colorimetric method of estimation with 
mercuric acetate was used. Folin, Cannon, and Denis? reported that 
phosphotungstic acid (uric acid reagent) is a very sensitive reagent, solu- 
tions containing one part of epinephrine in 3,000,000 parts of water pro- 
ducing an unmistakable reaction with this reagent, and therefore being 
approximately ten times as sensitive as other chemical tests. Using Folin’s 
method, Herring? reported that the administration of raw thyroid to cats 
and rats can increase the epinephrine content of the adrenals. The ad- 
renals were also heavier than those of control animals. Hoskins‘ studied 
the influence of thyroid feeding upon the adrenal glands. In new-born 
guinea pigs, the adrenal glands were 25 per cent heavier than those of 
control animals. In young white rats this phenomenon was also confirmed. 
The heart, spleen, liver, and kidneys were also heavier than those of 
control animals. 
The present experiments extend previous observations with 
the white rats. 
Method. 
Albino rats were divided into three series, each having nearly 
the same number of each sex. The body weight of each series 
averaged about the same. All of them were fed on dog biscuit- 
1 Kuriyama, §., Am. J. Physiol., 1917, xlii, 481. 
2¥Folin, O., Cannon, W. B., and Denis W., J. Biol. Chem., 1912-18, 
xili, 477. 
’Herring, P. T., Quart. J. Exp. Phystol., 1915-16, ix, 391; 1917, ‘xi, 
47. . 
4 Hoskins, R. G., J. Am. Med. Assn., 1910, lv, 1724. Hoskins, E. R., 
J. Exp. Zool., 1916, xxi, 295. 
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