EFFECT OF SYNTHETIC ANALOGUES OF HYDROCORTISONE ON THE BLOOD PRESSURE OF ADRENALECTOMIZED RATS ON SODIUM RESTRICTION

Abstract

PREVIOUS experimental work has established that several of the adrenal steroids may produce hypertension: desoxycorticosterone (DOC) (1, 2, 3, 4), cortisone (5, 6) and hydrocortisone (7). It seems likely that more than one mechanism is involved in the action of these steroids upon the blood pressure. That of desoxycorticosterone is conditioned by the amount of sodium available, i.e., the development of hypertension is accentuated by a liberal sodium intake (4) and can be prevented by sodium restriction (8). In contrast, the action of cortisone is not influenced by variation in the sodium content of the diet (6) and the hypertension induced by hydrocortisone is not agumented by a high sodium intake or by reduction in renal mass (9). This suggests that both cortisone and hydrocortisone produce their effect upon the blood pressure through some mechanism which differs from that invoked by desoxycorticosterone.