The action of pituitary extracts upon the kidney / by R. Magnus and E.A. Schäfer.
- Rudolf Magnus
- Date:
- [1901]
Licence: In copyright
Credit: The action of pituitary extracts upon the kidney / by R. Magnus and E.A. Schäfer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by The University of Glasgow Library. The original may be consulted at The University of Glasgow Library.
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![[From the Proceedings of the Pliysioloyical Society, July 20, 1901.] The action of pituitary extracts upon the kidney. By R. Magnus and E. A. Schafer. {From the Physiological Laboratory, University of Edinburgh.) Watery extracts of pituitary body produce rise of blood-pressure by contracting the systemic arterioles^ much in the same way as extract of suprarenal medulla produces its well-known pressor reaction. In corroboration of this fact we have obtained—as the result of intravenous injection of pituitary—diminution in volume of the spleen, intestines and limbs—in the last case after a preliminary and probably passive expansion. But whilst the active principle of suprarenal extract causes marked diminution of the kidney and complete stoppage of the secretion of urine, extract of pituitary generally produces, after a short period of latency, a remarkable and long-continued expansion of the organ, accompanied by a decided and often prolonged diuresis. In illustration of this the following experiment may be given: In a dog weighing 10 kilog. which was yielding during each interval of 5 minutes rather less than 2 cub. cent, of urine, the amount rose after injection of 2-5 cub. cent, of a 2 p.c. decoction of the whole gland to 14 cub. cent, in the 5 minutes, the secretion being about equal from both kidneys although only one was in the plethysmograph. The rise of blood-pressure was small and lasted a few minutes only, whilst the flow of urine reached its maximum in about 15 minutes and at the end of 30 minutes was still double the original amount. Whilst at first the increase in volume of the kidney and the flow of urine were concomitant, the expansion continued after the diuresis had ceased, a condition which has been shown to obtain for other diuretics^ Succeeding injections of the extract produce a similar but usually less marked diuresis and kidney expansion, with little or no rise of blood-pressure. With regard to the part of the gland which yields the substance having the above-described action upon the kidney vessels we have ascertained that as with the effect upon the heart and blood-pressure the active material is contained in the infundibular or nervous portion 1 For the literature of this see Schafer and Swale Vincent, Journ. Phys. xxv.](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21455892_0004.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
