THE FLUORIMETRIC ESTIMATION OF EPINEPHRINE IN PERIPHERAL VENOUS PLASMA DURING INSULIN HYPOGLYCEMIA’

The occurrence of an increased concentration of blood epinephrine during insulin hypoglycemia is suggested by a considerable body of pharmacological evidence based on signs of stimulation of denervated organs (Cannon et al., 1924; Abe, 1924), on cross-circulation experiments (Houssay et al., 1925), on indica-t.ions of adrenal medullary depletion (Poll, 1925; Gohar, 1934; Vogt, 1947), and from clinical observations (Fletcher and Campbell, 1922). Recent quantitative estimations, by biological assay, of the amines present in the adrenal medulla after insulin administration, have revealed a fall in the epinephrine content (Burn et al., 1950; Hockfelt, 1951; West, 1951; Outschoorn, 1952), and this has been confirmed by chemical determination (Udenfriend et al., 1953). Employing a biological technique, von Euler and Luft (1952) have re-ported an increase in the urinary output of epinephrine in human subjects following insulin injection. Holzbauer and Vogt (1954), utilizing a specific method based on paper chro-matographic separation of epinephrine from plasma, followed by biological assa