Abstract
ARTHUR
It is probable from many physiological observations that the active principle of the adrenal cortex is of the nature of a general tissue hormone. If this be the case it should be present, albeit in small quantities, throughout the body and possibly in various secretions. Its presence was therefore sought in the urine. Perla and Gottesman 1 claimed to have extracted the hormone from urine. From each liter of urine they obtained a quantity of hormone comparable to that obtained from about 225 gm. of the fresh beef adrenal glands by the method of Hartman. 2 Such a high yield would speak either for the excellency of urine as a source of the hormone or for the poor yield obtainable from glands by the method utilized Unfortunately, Perla and Gottesman used as evidence for the presence of cortical hormone in urine the increased resistance of rats to histamine when the extract was simultaneously injected. The indirect nature of this method of test renders their conclusion open to question.
Our urinary extracts were prepared by extracting the fresh urine with benzene. When other than freshly voided urine was used, the products were less active, having apparently undergone decomposition, as might be readily expected. After washing the benzene with water, it was removed in vacuo at 40°C., after adding an amount of 0.9% saline to make 1 cc. of the final extract correspond to one liter of urine. A yellowish, odoriferous solution was obtained which was capable of prolonging life and permitting growth in one-month-old adrenalectomized rats when administered in doses of a cubic centimeter, twice daily. As compared to the extracts obtained by us from adrenal glands, 3 one liter of urine contains an amount of hormone corresponding to approximately only one-half gram of glandular tissue.
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