Mineral element correlation with adenohypophyseal-adrenal cortex function and stress

A statistical correlationl was made between adrenocorticotropin (ACTH) and four elements in rats under control, stress, and stress-recovery conditions. Blood serum zinc showed a strong positive correlation with the rise in ACTH during stress and its decline in stress recovery. Serum calcium, copper, and magnesium demonstrated little correlation with ACTH changes. The strong ACTH-zinc correlation points to an as yet undefined interaction between ACTH and zinc

The generation of kinins in the blood of dogs during hypotension due to haemorrhage

1. Circulating kinins were detected and continuously assayed during hypotension due to haemorrhage in dogs, using the blood-bathed organ technique and isolated strips of cat jejunum as the assay tissue.

2. In arterial blood kinin concentrations of 1–5 ng/ml were attained after a hypotension of 35–65 mmHg had been maintained for 10–190 min. When portal venous blood was simultaneously assayed kinins appeared earlier and in concentrations 1–2 ng/ml higher than in arterial blood. No differences in time course of kinin generation or in concentration were found when mixed venous blood and arterial blood were compared. In those instances in which the blood pressure was restored to normal by returning the shed blood, kinin formation stopped.

3. Kinin generation was due to the presence in the circulation of a kinin-forming enzyme, such as kallikrein. When kallikrein was infused into the portal vein, it was partially inactivated by the liver.

4. Prolonged intravenous infusions of kallikrein (20–60 mu kg−1 min−1) generated kinins in the circulation in concentrations (1–5 ng/ml) which were well maintained throughout the infusion, demonstrating that kinin generation is not limited by depletion of the precursor kininogen; nevertheless, the effects of kallikrein infusions on the blood pressure and central venous pressure waned.

5. It is concluded that in hypotension due to haemorrhage, an active kallikrein appears in the portal circulation. Delay in the appearance of kallikrein in the systemic circulation may be due to the kallikrein inactivating mechanism of the liver. This inactivating mechanism may fail during shock. Kinins are generated in amounts sufficient to have a substantial effect on the circulation and an influence on the course of events in shock.

Plasma 11-hydroxycorticosteroid and growth hormone levels in acute medical illnesses

Adrenal cortical response in acute medical illness has been studied by measuring the plasma 11-hydroxycorticosteroid (11-OHCS) concentration in 178 patients. Those with unbalanced diabetes, acute infections, and severe myocardial infarction had high levels. The results obtained suggest that in a patient with a severe infection and hypotension a plasma 11-OHCS level of less than 15 mug./100 ml. indicates an inadequate adrenal cortical response, and one patient with septicaemia and temporary adrenal cortical insufficiency is described. Growth hormone levels were increased in patients with severe diabetic ketosis but not in those with hyperosmolar non-ketotic diabetic coma.