DIET AND DEATH IN ACUTE UREMIA 1

Abstract

By tying the vena cava above the entrance of the renal veins in rats an intense renal congestion is produced, followed by complete anuria and a rapid rise in blood urea conc. In such animals as survived, the venous pressure in the kidney fell as collateral veins enlarged. Urine formation was gradually reestablished, blood urea conc. fell and within a wk. structural and functional evidence of renal abnormality had almost disappeared. The effect of high and low protein diets on the mortality of this operation was studied in groups of more than 40 animals. None of the rats died when the consumption of milk or cereal protein was low or moderate. Mortality was 6-7% on diets containing 9% of dry yeast but variation in casein consumption had no effect. A mortality of 8-9% followed the consumption of dried liver and kidney; the highest mortality (16%) was after a diet containing 70% of dried beef. A water extract of beef induced a 52% mortality; no deaths followed ingestion of the alc. soluble material in this extract whereas the alc. insol. fraction killed more than half the animals. Since the adm. of K salts in quantities giving the same ash content as the alc. insol. fraction induced the same high mortality, K was probably a factor in the 16% mortality that followed the consumption of beef.