Abstract

In a normal subject, the simultaneous administration of corticosterone and aldosterone consistently resulted in a greater potassium diuresis than did the administration of aldosterone alone, both when the steroids were administered during the day when spontaneous variation of potassium excretion due to diurnal rhythm is great, and during the night when variation due to diurnal rhythm is minimal. It is suggested that this may help to explain the pronounced potassium wastage seen in Conn's syndrome with high secretion of corticosteroids other than aldosterone (e.g., corticosterone) compared with cases of secondary hyperaldosteronism in which secretion of other corticosteroids is not excessive.

IN 1955, Conn (1) described a syndrome of hypertension associated with hypokaliemia which was attributed, without direct evidence, to the secretion of excessive quantities of aldosterone. Subsequently, many examples of this syndrome have been reported, in some of which an actual excess of aldosterone has been demonstrated in the urine, although positive chemical identification of the sodium-retaining factor as aldosterone has been made in very few instances.

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