THE INFLUENCE OF ADRENAL CORTEX AND THYROID ON THE LOSS OF NITROGEN IN URINE AFTER EXPERIMENTAL BURNS1

Abstract

FOLLOWING experimental burns an increase in the urinary excretion of nitrogen takes place (Cuthbertson, 1930). The amount of nitrogen excreted has been shown to be affected by certain factors such as the degree of burning (Cuthbertson, 1930; Clark, Peters and Rossiter, 1945) and the nutritional state of the animals (Croft and Peters, 1945; Sellers and Best, 1947). Although it has been repeatedly demonstrated in normal animals that protein metabolism may be influenced by alterations in the functional state of the adrenal cortex (Long, Katzin and Fry, 1940; Ingle and Thorn, 1940; Ingle, 1941) and of the thyroid (Boothby and co-workers. 1925, and others), conclusive evidence that endocrine factors are responsible or even implicated in the disturbance of nitrogen metabolism after injury is lacking. In this communication it is shown that nitrogen loss after burning may usually be abolished or reversed by removal of the adrenals when the resistance of the adrenalectomized animals is increased by daily injection of desoxycorticosterone acetate.