Abstract
Convulsions and immediate death were found to result from the administration of fluid to rabbits which had been dehydrated by intravenous injections of sucrose 5 to 10 days previously.
These animals had been used to determine the effect of water abstinence and increased water loss on the excretion of urea and the blood urea concentration. They were kept without food or water and bled 1 to 3 times daily throughout the experiment. Extremely high blood urea concentrations (100 to 450 mg. per 100 cc.) were reached in every animal and fluid ingestion resulted in a very much higher blood urea concentration.
Water to the amount of 200 cc. was administered to a rabbit which had undergone simple water abstinence with negative results. Convulsions were obtained in those rabbits which had received sucrose after the administration of 100 to 200 cc. of distilled water or 0.9 per cent sodium chloride.
The severity of the albuminuria and the height of the blood urea concentration was greatest in the rabbits which had been dehydrated previous to water abstinence by intravenous sucrose injections. Since it was in these only that convulsions were produced it would seem that some damage produced by sucrose was a factor. The cause of these convulsions and their association with kidney damage is being further investigated.
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