Abstract
Much evidence has accumulated since Blum's discovery of adrenalin glycosuria in 1901, to indicate an antagonistic action between the adrenal and the pancreas in carbohydrate metabolism. The more intimate nature of this antagonism is still obscure. Bayer in a recent article has suggested three possible modes of interaction:
1. The action of the internal secretion of the pancreas may be directly inhibited by the adrenalin, or
2. The secretion of the pancreatic hormone may be prevented, either directly or through reflex nervous influence, or
3. The adrenalin, through its vaso-constrictory action, may close up the channels of exit through which the internal secretion of the pancreas reaches the circulation.
At the suggestion of Professor MacCallum, the attempt was made to demonstrate this antagonistic action between adrenal and pancreas in vitro, where the problem is simplified by the exclusion of secretory or vaso-motor influences. The technique used was, with slight modifications, that described by Cohnheim in 1906 for the demonstration of the activating effect of pancreas extract upon the glycolytic ferment of muscle. The finely hashed muscle of cats was extracted in iced sodium oxalate solution, the excess of oxalate precipitated with calcium chloride, and glucose added in known amount. Duplicate flasks of muscle extract alone, of muscle extract plus pancreas, and of muscle extract plus pancreas plus adrenal gland extract or adrenalin in varying dilutions up to 1 in 110,000, were incubated overnight at 37° under toluol. Sugar determinations were made with Benedict's solution from samples taken before and after incubation.
It was found that the addition of adrenalin to muscle-pancreas mixtures prepared in this way, gave a higher sugar content than the controls. This effect was obtained definitely in 9 out of 10 experiments.
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