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Date of Award

4-25-1987

Document Type

Restricted Thesis: Campus only access

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science

Department

Biology

First Advisor

Dr. F.B. Leftwich

Abstract

The Mongolian gerbil, Meriones unguiculatus, has been shown to have a marked inability to survive adrenalectomy for any extended period of time even when given replacement therapy with cortical hormones. To this end, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were monitored by means of a Grass 79 polygraph in adrenalectomized, injected and sham-adrenalectomized gerbils in an attempt to correlate their rapid death with significant blood pressure changes. The results showed a marked drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressures following surgery in adrenalectomized animals which was not prevented when these animals were injected with an adrenal extract. Replacement therapy with aldosterone and deoxycorticosterone acetate did to some extent slow this drastic drop in blood pressure, however life beyond 4-5 days after adrenalectomy was not recognized in any of the animals.

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