Abstract
During a study of the effect of sodium fluoride on the thyroid gland of dogs, we noted that the animals had a pronounced increase of urine output after intravenous injection of the drug. Goldenberg had similarly noted a diuresis in goiter patients treated with sodium fluoride 1 . The present study was undertaken to further investigate this diuretic action.
Dogs were placed in metabolism cages and given a weighed diet of Purina Dog Chow to fulfill the food requirements and to provide a constant ingestion of salt and protein. Water was given in sufficient, but constant, daily amounts. After a control period, during which the body weight, urine output, urine chlorides and total urine nitrogen were determined daily, sodium fluoride in 1% aqueous solution was injected intravenously. The effect is shown in the following charts. The experiment was repeated and confirmed in six different animals.
Single doses of 0.005 gm. to 0.020 gm. per kilo of body weight were followed by a pronounced diuresis. In addition to an increased water output, the urine chlorides and nitrogen were strikingly increased. The control urine was acid, but, after sodium fluoride, it was strongly alkaline to litmus and this alkalinity persisted for approximately one week after the injection. The non-protein nitrogen of the blood has not been fully studied, but in one animal the only change noted was an increase from an average of 31 mg.% to 36 mg.% during the diuresis. This is possibly due to dehydration and blood concentration. Examination of the urine, including a catheterized specimen, revealed no albumin, sugar, casts, leukocytes or erythrocytes. The kidneys of dogs that had received varying doses of NaF, including one animal that had been given 0.02 gm. per kilo of body weight daily for 41 days, showed no microscopic evidence of damage to either glomeruli or tubules.
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