| Abstrakt: |
Experiments in the rat indicate that trauma fails to elicit the usual hyperglycemia in the absence of the adrenals. Active corticoid hormone preparations restore the low blood sugar of adrenalectomized animals to normal, but do not raise it above this level, nor do they cause hyperglycemia in intact animals. If such extracts are administered to adrenalectomized rats during traumatic shock, they cause a significant rise in the blood sugar concentration and at the same time increase shock resistance. It appears that the metabolic changes elicited by extensive tissue damage alter the action of adrenal cortical hormones on the blood sugar.Since lactic acid production is increased in traumatic shock6and corticoids raise the blood sugar only in the presence of the liver,3it is tempting to assume that in shock, the blood sugar decreases in the absence of the adrenals because the lactic acid produced fails to be resynthesized into glucose. If, on the other hand, carbohydrate-metabolism-active corticoids are administered, the blood sugar can be raised above normal by resynthesis of the excess lactic acid. In any case, these experiments give further support to the assumption that changes in carbohydrate metabolism play an important part in the pathogenesis of the shock syndrome. |
