Studies on Aldosterone Secretion in Man

Interest in the relation of adrenal cortical function to sodium metabolism was stimulated in 1933 by the studies of Loeb, Atchley, Benedict, and Leland, who described the excessive urinary sodium loss in adrenalectomized dogs, and by similar observations of Harrop, Soffer, Ellsworth, and Trescher (1933), who further suggested that one of the functions of the adrenal cortex was to assist the organism to preserve adequate volume and electrolyte composition within the extracellular compartment. Three years later Harrop, Nicholson, and Strauss (1936) reported that adrenal cortical extracts were capable of inducing sodium retention in dogs, and Thorn, Garbutt, Hitchcock, and Hartman (1936) demon- strated similar effects in normal human subjects as well as in patients with Addison's disease.