THE PRODUCTION OF HYPERTENSION, NEPHROSCLEROSIS AND CARDIAC LESIONS BY METHYLANDROSTENEDIOL TREATMENT IN THE RAT1

Abstract

Experiments on intact rats, sensitized by unilateral nephrectomy and a high Na intake, confirm earlier observations that methylandrostenediol (MAD) can produce a syndrome of hyalinosis (characterized by nephrosclerosis, periarteritis nodosa and myocarditis, with hyalinized nodules in the heart) accompanied by hypertension and polyuria. All these changes are quite comparable to those which had previously been obtained with mineralo-corticoids, such as DCA. None of the above mentioned pathologic changes are produced by MAD after bilateral adrenalectomy, in similarly sensitized rats. The production of hyalinosis by MAD is not associated with any increase in adrenal weight, but is accompanied by a characteristic histologic change, the accumulation of numerous hyalin granules in the adrenocortical cells.