Effect of acute carotid arterial constriction on aldosterone secretion in dogs

¹ Section on Experimental Cardiovascular Disease, Laboratory of Kidney and Electrolyte Metabolism, National Heart Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

Steroid secretion was studied during acute carotid arterial constriction and subsequently after exogenous ACTH injection in anesthetized animals with a chronic indwelling adrenal venous catheter. Aldosterone secretion increased during carotid constriction in only four of nine experiments. In one animal, the increment in aldosterone output was associated with an increase in adrenal blood flow. In the other three experiments the increase in aldosterone output appeared to be secondary to an elevation in circulating ACTH as indicated by simultaneous increments in corticosterone and cortisol secretion. A striking increase in secretion of all three steroids occurred following the subsequent administration of 100 mU ACTH. No evidence was obtained to indicate that carotid constriction augments aldosterone output by activation of a central nervous mechanism except via ACTH release.

Key Words: steroid secretion • corticosterone secretion • cortisol secretion • ACTH release

Submitted on December 30, 1964