Abstract
Deuel, Murray and Hallman 1 have shown that sodium succinate is ineffective in preventing the ketonuria in fasting rats previously fed a high fat diet. Since Rietti 2 has shown that the ketonuria of pancreatic diabetes is reduced by hypophysectomy and since extracts of the anterior pituitary produce ketonuria in the fasted rat, a study of the effect of succinic acid in pituitary ketonuria was undertaken.
Male albino rats weighing between 180 and 200 g were fasted for 3 days in metabolism cages and the urine collected in 20% copper sulphate. Each 24-hour volume was analyzed for total acetone bodies by the method of Van Slyke. The results are expressed in mg per 100 g of body weight of rat per day.
On the 2nd and 3rd day of fasting, anterior pituitary extract was given subcutaneously, 0.5 cc per 100 g, and 2 cc of physiological saline was given intraperitoneally to insure a satisfactory urine volume. Since about 25% of our rats failed to respond well to pituitary extract, only those rats which developed satisfactory ketonuria were used. Among these animals there was a variation in the degree of acetonuria, but since the same group of animals, 17 in number, was used repeatedly for the 3 experiments, this factor is controlled. Between each period of food withdrawal and extract treatment the animals were allowed to regain their initial weight. After the first experiment with fasting and extract, the effect of sodium succinate, food withdrawal and extract was examined. The succinate was given orally for 4 days before as well as during the fasting period. The dose of sodium succinate was 20 mg per 100 g of rat per day which corresponds on a body-weight basis with the dose used clinically by Koranyi and Szent-Györgyi. 3
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