ON THE STRUCTURAL CHANGES PRODUCED IN THE BRAIN AND HYPOPHYSIS BY PARENTERAL ADMINISTRATION OF HIGHLY HYPERTONIC SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Rats given intraperit. injns. of intensely hypertonic NaCl solns., exhibit a singular rearrangement of chromatin in the nuclei of their nerve cells, particularly those situated in the gray matter of the cerebral cortex, the basal ganglia, and the cerebellum. The nuclei assume an appearance remotely reminiscent of the 1st stage of mitotic division. No lesions of this kind have been observed in rats given comparable doses of equally hypertonic urea or glucose solns. Intraperit. treatment with hypertonic NaCl solns. also causes an extraordinarily pronounced hyperemia of the brain, the meninges, and the pituitary. This is frequently accompanied by massive hemorrhage into the meninges or the hypophyseal cleft. Unlike the nuclear changes, the hyperemia of the brain can also be reproduced with other hypertonic solns. (glucose or urea). Intraperit. injn. of equally damaging doses of other irritants, such as formalin, turpentine, mustard, croton oil, etc., elicited neither hyperemia nor nuclear changes in the brain. Hence, the latter manifestations cannot be ascribed merely to non-specific peritoneal irritation.