INFLUENCE OF ADRENAL CORTICAL STEROIDS UPON THE BLOOD PRESSURE AND THE RATE OF PROGRESSION OF EXPERIMENTAL NEPHRITIS IN RATS

Abstract

IN RECENT YEARS it has been demonstrated that long continued administration of desoxycorticosterone acetate (DCA) may induce a rise in blood pressure in patients with or without disease of the adrenal glands (Loeb, Atchley, Ferrebee and Ragan, 1939; Ferrebee, Ragan, Atchley and Loeb, 1939; Thorn, Dorrance and Day, 1942; Engel, Cohn and Soffer, 1942; Roth, Robinson and Wilder, 1943; Perera, Knowlton, Lowell and Loeb, 1944) as well as in normal dogs and rats (Kuhlmann, Ragan, Ferrebee, Atchley and Loeb, 1939; Grollman, Harrison and Williams, 1940; Selye, Hall and Rowley, 1943). In animals treated with DCA, this hypertension is often associated with evidences of renal damage (Selye, Hall and Rowley, 1943; Selye and Hall, 1943; Selye and Pentz, 1943). No similar effect on blood pressure has been reported following prolonged treatment with adrenal cortical extract (ACE), Grollman, Harrison and Williams (1940).