THE SECRETION OF AN ANTIDIURETIC SUBSTANCE INTO THE CIRCULATION OF ADRENALECTOMIZED AND HYPOPHYSECTOMIZED RATS EXPOSED TO NOXIOUS STIMULI¹^,²

Abstract

THE exposure of normal rats to a variety of noxious stimuli (pain, noise, a strange environment, and the intraperitoneal injection of histamine) results in a rapid, marked increase in the antidiuretic activity of the plasma (Mirsky, Stein and Paulisch, 1953). Although the precise nature of the substance (or substances) (ADS) responsible for the augmented antidiuretic activity was not established, its resemblance to the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) extractable from the neurohypophysis and the speed with which it is released into the circulation suggested that ADS and ADH may be identical. It was proposed that common to the specific reactions induced by the various noxious stimuli is an activation of the hypothalamus with a resultant release of the antidiuretic hormone into the circulation. It is generally assumed that the secretion of the antidiuretic hormone is dependent upon the integrity of the supraoptic and para ventricular nuclei, the supraoptico-hypophyseal tract and the neurohypophysis