The Effect of Ethyl Alcohol on the Secretion from the Adrenal Medulla of the Cat

Abstract

Abstract Recent studies on the urinary excretion of adrenaline and noradrenaline have furnished strong indirect evidence that ethyl alcohol administration increases the secretion from the adrenal medulla in man and dogs. In the present work the amounts of adrenaline and noradrenaline in the blood from one adrenal were measured after alcohol infusions (0.30—1.0 g/kg) in Nembutal‐anaesthetized cats. The catechol‐amines were determined by bioassay technique. With i. v. doses of alcohol above 0.60 g/kg, the output of both amines generally increased. Some ways in which alcohol could influence the adrenal medulla are discussed.