THE EFFECT OF CORTISONE AND THE ADRENOCORTICOTROPHIC HORMONE OF THE PITUITARY ON THE BLOOD PRESSURE IN EXPERIMENTAL RENAL HYPERTENSION1

Abstract

The effects of cortisone and ACTH on the blood pressure of hypertensive rats and dogs is so slight as to be attributable to the pharmacodynamic effects induced by these drugs rather than to any specific effect on the disorder. The results obtained in this study as well as the other available data fail to support the view that hypertension is a result of adrenal-cortical or pituitary dysfunction induced by stress or nervous influences. In view of the negligible effects of ACTH and cortisone on the blood pressure, it is improbable that the effect of a low-protein diet in reducing the blood pressure in exptl. nephritis is a result of a decreased ACTH output. The slight effects of the 2 drugs on the blood pressure in the normotensive as well as in the hypertensive as compared to the striking effects of salt depletion in the latter also make it improbable that the effects of Na depletion are mediated through the pituitary-adrenal axis.