AbstractsAstronomy & Space Science

Note: Some pages out of order. The well-known regulation of the electrolyte balance by the adrenal cortex has been attributed to its secretion of a hormone similar to, if not identical with, desoxycorticosterone. A deficiency of adrenocortical hormone lowers both serum chloride and sodium, and elevates potassium. Therapy with desoxycorticosterone rapidly restores these electrolyte levels to normal by markedly increasing the retention of sodium and chloride and reducing the renal retention of potassium. Therefore it seemed paradoxical to find that large doses of desoxycorticosterone acetate (DCA) can lower the serum chloride of both normal and adrenalectomized animals. At the outset of this research, the problem was to determine the mechanism by which DCA produced this hypochloremia, which has been observed by several investigators. It seemed probable that it was an overdosage effect related to the loss of potassium produced by DCA, and that this steroid must increase the urine chloride excretion, contrary to the available information indicating that it produces chloride retention. These factors were investigated. Balance studies on chloride and potassium ions were performed to determine the relation between the chloride and potassium excretions in potassium deficiency. This problem of the effect of DCA and potassium deficiency on chloride balance forms the first part of this thesis.[...]