Kathryn Knowlton

THE ANABOLIC EFFECTS OF THE ANDROGENS AND SOMATIC GROWTH IN MAN

Excerpt In 1889 Brown-Sequard,1then 72 years old, injected a testicular extract into himself and felt a return of his youthful sense of well-being. Little substance remains from this early experime...

Diabetes in a Totally Depancreatized Man.

Conclusions (1) The pancreas, or its hormone, insulin, is necessary to life in the human. (2) On the basis of the present case and others previously reported,2-5 the insulin output of the normal human pancreas must be considerably smaller than has been believed and seems to lie in the range of 30 to 50 units per day. Therefore, (3) in diabetic patients requiring more than this amount, an extrainsular factor must be contributing to the diabetic syndrome. (4) The D/N, ratio of from 2.42 to 3.59 indicates that a fasting, depancreatized man deprived of insulin converts protein to carbohydrate at a rate commensurate with that observed in the dog under the same conditions6 or when treated with phloridzin.7

Effect of Testosterone Propionate in Eunuchoidism

Conclusion Testosterone propionate causes enlargement of the prostate and progression of secondary sex characters in the eunuchoid, together with a gain in weight, nitrogen and sodium retention, and a slight increase in the basal metabolic rate.

THE ANABOLIC EFFECTS OF CHORIONIC GONADOTROPIN IN NORMAL YOUNG MEN

It is now possible to ascribe an anabolic effect to the testicular secretion involving the deposition of protein and bone salts in somatic structures (1, 2). Such processes may be interpreted as contributing to the physiological spurts in height and weight during puberty and adolescence (1). As growth ceases and the youth moves toward the nitrogen equilibrium of maturity the influences of anabolic forces that operated clearly enough during active growth become uncertain. It may be presumed that the amounts of testicular secretion necessary to maintain the functions of the genitalia are no longer sufficient to exert progressive anabolic force elsewhere. Yet there is no indication that the capacity of somatic tissues to respond to androgens has reached its uttermost limit with the assumption of adult life. The anabolic effects of testosterone propionate may be well demonstrated to some degree and for a while in normal young men (3, 4) and even in advanced age (5). A multiplicity of subjects of all ages and with a variety of diseases have been found sensitive to testosterone propionate. Although the clinical circumstances have been too numerous and too complex for treatment here, ample evidence exists that serious resistance to the anabolic effects of the androgens must be rare indeed. The question now arises as to whether the secretory capacity of the mature testis is ever suf-

A Preliminary Investigation of the Source of the Creatinuria Following Transection of the Spinal Cord

Summary It has been shown that the creatine excreted in large amount following spinal cord transection originates mainly from the muscle tissue which has been affected by the cord transection. Creatine half-life in the “spinal” dog was 38 days. The rate of disappearance of body creatine in the dog (estimated to be about 2% per day) is compatible with that found for other species.