Acid Intoxication of Adrenal Insufficiency in Dogs.

Abstract

Recent work on the blood chemistry of dogs and cats suffering from adrenal insufficiency suggests the probability that the adrenal cortex secretes a hormone which in some manner controls the normal functioning of the kidney. Several investigators 1 report marked nitrogen retention following adrenal removal. Swingle 2 and Swingle and Eisenmann 3 demonstrated phosphorus retention, and the existence of an uncompensated non-volatile acidosis in severe adrenal insufficiency. The acidosis was considered to be due to retention of the acid end products of normal metabolism.

Owing to the difficulty of bleeding cats repeatedly, and the fact that considerable quantities of blood are necessary for analysis, the writer made a detailed investigation of the acid intoxication following adrenal removal in dogs.

Adult male and non-pregnant dogs were employed, an interval of 5 to 10 days elapsing between operations. Longer intervals were not found to prolong the survival period, the average survival period to date being 5½ to 6 days. Dogs living less than 4 days were entirely disregarded for this investigation. No greater difficulty was experienced with the right gland than with the left.

All blood for CO₂ capacity and pH was drawn under oil, directly from the heart. Normal blood was drawn at first from unilaterally operated animals since this blood presents no change from norma1. 4 Later, however, normal blood was obtained after the second operation. Double-operated animals are always normal for several days following the second operation. They eat, play, and fight with one another just as do unoperated animals. The blood picture of such animals shows no deviations from the normal. Following the onset of the characteristic adrenal insufficiency symptoms, blood was taken at various intervals.

The CO₂ capacity was determined by Van Slyke's method, 5 and the pH by means of Myer's bicolorimeter, 6 using Muntwyler's 7 correction of 0.30 for dog plasma.