Abstract
Dodds and Noble1 first described the severe anæmia occurring in rabbits following parenteral administration of posterior pituitary extract. They considered this action of pituitrin a selective one on the cellular elements of the blood. We2 confirmed the anæmia caused by pituitary extract, but placed a different interpretation on the mechanism involved, for accompanying the anæmia there was a marked fall in the osmotic pressure of the blood. We therefore believed that the dilution in the concentration of extracellular electrolytes resulted in a passage of fluid into the red cell with a subsequent rupture of the cell membrane. The reduced electrolyte concentration of the serum was considered to be the result of the powerful antidiuretic action of large doses of pituitrin. Also, the possibility that pituitary extract may promote the excretion of large amounts of electrolyte was considered.
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Dodds, E. C., and Noble, R. L., NATURE, 135, 788 (1935).
Gilman, A., and Goodman, L., Amer. J. Physiol., 118, 241 (1937).
Dodds, E. C., Liu, S. H., and Noble, R. L., J. Physiol, 94, 124 (1938).
Hill, A. V., Proc. Roy. Soc., A, 127, 9 (1930).
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GILMAN, A., GOODMAN, L. Pituitrin Anæmia. Nature 143, 379 (1939). https://doi.org/10.1038/143379a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/143379a0
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