William E. Reynolds

Electrolyte and Water Responses of Normal Subjects During Cortisone Administration.

Discussion and Conclusions The data indicate that normal subjects given cortisone acetate respond in a similar manner to that observed in patients: salt and water retention occurs and serum electrolyte concentration and serum osmolarity are not appreciably altered(l2-14). The responses noted here in Evans blue space are similar to the variable results seen in subjects with disease during cortisone administration (15- 19). The uniform increase in thiocyanate space is not an unexpected finding since evidence of chloride retention was uniformly noted and since the thiocyanate space empirically parallels changes in chloride space(20-21). The weight gain noted by most of the subjects was considered to represent changes in total body water since the diets. including salt intake, were at the usual daily level for all subjects and the experiments were of brief duration. These data do not make it possible to separate salt and water retention from endogenous shifts of cell water to extracellular space.