The Role of the Adrenals in the Production of Renal Changes by Sth

Abstract

Animals sensitized to mineralocorticoid hormone actions by unilateral nephrectomy and a high Na intake revealed that: (1) The nephrotoxic and vasotoxic actions of intense overdosage with somatotropic hormones (STH) are wholly dependent upon the presence of the adrenals. In this respect, they differ from other actions of the somatotropic hormone, for instance, its ability to stimulate somatic growth and the development of the thymicolymphatic apparatus. Consequently, adrenalectomy induces a qualitative change in the picture of STH overdosage: it selectively abolishes the renal and cardiovascular effects, without notably interfering with most of the other manifestations; (2) Treatment with large doses of desoxycorticosterone acetate (DOCA), alone or in combination with cortisol acetate (COLA), intensifies the nephrotoxic actions of STH in the presence but not in the absence of the adrenals. Even the effects upon the kidney, of, in themselves, nephrotoxic amounts of the corticoids, cannot be further aggravated by simultaneous STH treatment; (3) Adrenalectomy does not block the nephrotoxic and vasotoxic actions of STH by eliminating the adrenal medulla, because these effects do not manifest themselves in STH-treated adrenal-ectomized rats, even if they are concurrently treated with very high doses of DOCA, COLA, (cortisol acetate) adrenaline and noradrenaline.