Blood Sugar and Chloride Changes in Adrenalectomized Rats During Adaptation to Various Stimuli

Abstract

Summary and Conclusions

Experiments in the rat show that continuous exposure to non-specific damaging agents elicits a characteristic 3-stage general adaptation syndrome which is of considerably shorter duration in the adrenalectomized animal than in the normal. During the first stage, the blood chlorides and blood sugar are decreased; during the second stage, both these values return to normal in spite of continued treatment and the general condition of the animals is considerably improved. During the final third stage of exhaustion, hypoglycemia and hypochloremia reappear and general resistance decreases again. These experiments are in agreement with the conception that the primary cause of the adrenal insufficiency syndrome is a disturbance in the mechanism of adaptation and more particularly a decrease in the ability to maintain adaptation once it is acquired. The decrease in blood sugar, blood chlorides, blood volume, thermoregulating ability, muscular efficiency, etc., as well as the increase in blood potassium, are probably all simply the consequences oi this primary disability.