Endocrine involvement in licorice hypertension

¹ Warner-Lambert Research Institute, Morris Plains, New Jersey

In the adrenalectomized rat placed on a regular diet, neither ammoniated glycyrrhizin nor licorice was able to prolong survival time beyond that of the controls while desoxycorticosterone acetate (DCA) was very effective. When adrenalectomized rats were maintained on saline, it was observed that only DCA caused significant polydipsia, arterial hypertension and cardiovascular lesions; ammoniated glycyrrhizin and licorice were practically inactive, in contrast to their previously reported activity in the normal rat. The presence of the adrenal glands appears necessary to the renal cardiovascular effects of these extracts and it seems that the observed activity is mediated through these glands and that neither ammoniated glycyrrhizin nor licorice possesses direct DCA-like or mineralocorticoid properties.