H. Elrick

A Renal Action of Glucagon

Summary and Conclusions It has been shown that glucagon has a marked enhancing effect on renal excretion of I131, Na+, K+, Cl- and PO4—in both the anesthetized and conscious dog. This action of glucagon, which is independent of its hyperglycemic effect, appears to be due to a direct action on the kidney tubules. The physiologic significance of these effects remains to be clarified.

Food utilization and weight gain in hypophysectomized rat as function of handling.

Summary Handling in young hypophysectomized rats resulted in significantly increased weight gain despite ingestion of significantly less food. No effect on skeletal growth or percentage of carcass protein and fat was observed. Increased weight gain in the handled hypophysectomized rat is due to greater efficiency of intestinal absorption of food and/or diminished metabolism rather than a direct stimulation of growth or increased food ingestion.

Effects of Handling on the Adrenalectomized Rat.

Summary Experiments indicate that the adrenal gland is necessary for the enhancing effects on weight gain, efficiency of food utilization, maze learning ability and resistance to thiourea toxicity previously shown to result from handling, in the intact young albino rat.

Effect of Glucagon on Growth of Chick Embryo

Summary The effect of highly purified, crystalline glucagon on the weight of chick embryos was studied in a series of 5 experiments and using a wide range of doses. No significant effect on weight of embryos was observed. It is suggested that a previous report of significant increases in embryo weight induced by glucagon may have been due to contaminants in the relatively crude glucagon preparation used.