Cytological changes in the endocrine glands of alloxanized hypertensive diabetic rats

• Main Author: Radford, Hugh William
• Language: English
• Published: University of British Columbia 2012
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/41532

Rats made diabetic with alloxan and fed high protein and salt diets showed hyperactivity of the pituitary-adrenal systems, as indicated by adrenal hypertrophy, depletion of adrenal cholesterol and increased pituitary acidophils. Typical signs of hypertension such as arteriosclerosis, nephrosclerosis, fatty degeneration of the liver and hemorrhages were common. Insulin therapy and omission of protein from the diet did not lessen the extent of the pathological conditions. It was concluded that the animals were responding to alloxan as an agent of stress in conformity with the adaptation syndrome and that the high salt content of the diet aggravated and sustained the resulting hypertension. The pathology of alloxan diabetes, which differs from that of diabetes mellitus, is changed to that of the latter by the salt diet. Because of the salt craving of diabetics, it is suggested that the hypertension often associated with diabetes is largely due to the salt intake. === Science, Faculty of === Botany, Department of === Zoology, Department of === Graduate