OBSERVATIONS ON ADRENALECTOMY IN MARSUPIAL, HIBERNATING AND HIGHER MAMMALIAN TYPES

Abstract

The results of adrenalectomy in 25 marmots and 9 opossums were not dissimilar to those observed in 20 cats. With the earliest appearance of symptoms of insufficiency, the blood sugar became significantly reduced and the blood N.P.N. considerably increased. Muscular weakness in all the types studied was then followed by convulsions (commonly) and eventually death. Of 15 summer operated groundhogs, 14 survived adrenalectomy for 2-10 days. Of 9 adrenalectomized opossums, 4 lived 1-2 1/2 days and 5 lived 12-33 days. Death from adrenal insufficiency is inevitable although long delayed in winter operated groundhogs. Such animals survive throughout the normal period of hibernation in apparent perfect health, although, like their unoperated fellows, they do not actually hibernate in captivity. In early spring, death occurs with typical symptoms of adrenal insufficiency. The extended survival through the winter is attributed to the lowered metabolic demands during this season. Pancreatic and gastric mucosal lesions are common in groundhogs and opossums, as in cats dying after exclusion of the adrenal glands.