Medulliadrenal Secretion and Carbohydrate Metabolism

Adrenaline release during insulin hypoglycaemia in the rabbit

“…The check to the fall and the subsequent rise of blood sugar could be said to result not from 'adrenaline' release but from the operation of the other factor or factors which, as has been seen, can on occasion restore blood sugar. It is true that the general result of animal experiment is to show that the hypoglycaemic effect of insulin is potentiated when adrenaline release is prevented (a) by denervation or demedullation of the adrenal glands in cats (Cannon et al 1924;Britton, Geiling & Calvery, 1928;Schlossberg, Sawyer & Bixby, 1933;Berg & Zucker, 1937) rabbits (Freeman et al 1934) and dogs (Houssay et al 1924;Crandall & Cherry, 1939); (b) by adrenalectomy in cats (Cannon et al 1924) dogs (Crandall & Cherry, 1939 and rabbits (Sundberg, 1923): only Stewart & Rogoff (1923) found no difference in the effects of insulin in normal and adrenalectomized rabbits, but they used doses of insulin convulsant for normal animals-in these experiments cortisone was not given; Crandall & Cherry (1939) gave occasional doses of cortical extract to their dogs; Sundberg (1923) mentions that some of his rabbits had cortical transplants; (c) after hexamethonium in dogs (Schachter, 1951) and in rabbits (Laurence & Stacey, 1952). It has therefore been generally accepted in the past that adrenaline release is responsible for, or at least assists in, restoring low blood sugar towards normal levels, although it is recognized that recovery from insulin hypoglycaemia does not require the presence of the adrenal medulla (Peters & Van Slyke, 1946).…”

Studies on the Suprarenal Cortex

“…The time required for the development of insufficiency after discontinuance of extract (Table V) bears a rather definite relation to the state of nutrition, as indicated by the body weight. The only exceptions to this rule are the fifth and sixth periods of insufficiency during the summer of 1931, in warm weather, which has been stated to shorten survival periods of suprarenalectomized animals (7). It is evident from the extended study of this dog and of our other animals, that renal insufficiency characterized by inadequate secretion of urine and of certain urinary elements during the acute stage of suprarenal insufficiency (6), does not persist after recovery is brought about by the use of large amounts of cortical extract; nor are anatomical lesions, indicating renal damage, to be found at autopsy in animals which have been repeatedly in insufficiency.…”

The adrenals and glucose tolerance

“…More recently Cori and Cori [1928] reported that adrenalectomized rats and mice showed an almost complete disappearance of liver glycogen when fasted for 24 hours, but muscle glycogen was not much more reduced than in starved normal controls. Britton, Calvery and Geiling [1928] found an increased sensitivity to insulin in cats in which the function of adrenaline was suppressed by removing the adrenal medulla. The present investigation deals with the relationship of the cortex and medulla to the fasting blood-sugar concentration and to the glucose tolerance of rabbits.…”