The Level of the Circulating Eosinophils Following Trauma

IT HAS been demonstrated that following the stress of injury, there is at first an increase in the daily excretion of the urinary corticoids anda simultaneous decrease in the urinary excretion of the neutral 17-ketosteroids.Although in severe injury these phenomena have been noted to persist(1) (2) for weeks, more recently it has been found that this period may beonly of a few days' duration. Subsequent to this initial phase, the urinarycorticoids decrease and the urinary neutral 17-ketosteroids increase inquantity, indicating, it is believed, an alteration in body metabolism fromthe anti-anabolic first phase to the anabolic second phase. The administration of adrenocorticotropic hormone results in a decreasein the circulating eosinophils (3). A study was undertaken to learn whetherthe level of the circulating eosinophils might reflect alteration in urinarysteroid excretion. Laragh and Almy (4) meanwhile showed that the numberof circulating eosinophils falls markedly following operative procedures. Daily eosinophil counts were performed on fasting subjects (3) following surgery, coronary occlusion, and the administration of adrenocorticotropin, 17-hydroxy-ll-dehydrocorticosterone, and testosterone (Table 1).Finger blood was employed.