Effect of Cold (4° C.) on Catecholamine Excretion in the Diabetic Rat and Its Relation to Autonomic Neuropathy

Total urinary catecholamine excretion has been estimated in rats made diabetic with alloxan. The mean value for diabetic rats was 1.4 μg./100 gm. in twenty-one hours at 20° C. Nondiabetic controls from the same litter excreted 0.8 μg./100 gm. Exposure to 4°C. for the first five hours of this period increased the excretion in the diabetic rats by 74 per cent to 2.4 μg./100 gm. and 82 per cent in the controls to 1.5 μg./100 gm.