Effect of ACTH and sodium salicylate on the urinary uric acid: creatinine ratio, and circulating eosinophils in man.

Since Cochran and others (1950) reported the development of Cushing's syndrome in a 12-year-old girl receiving 5 g. aspirin daily for acute rheumatism, much work has focused on the possibility that the therapeutic and metabolic effects accompanying salicylate administration may be dependent upon the intermediary production of ACTH and/or adrenal corticoids. These authors noted frequent past references to the development of acne and puffiness of the face in patients receiving salicylates for acute rheumatism, side-effects commonly seen during ACTH or cortisone therapy. Referring to their single case, together with the previous work of Reid, Watson, and Sproull (1950), they noted similarities in the effects of salicylates and cortisone not only in the therapeutic response in acute rheumatismn, but in their metabolic effects on fluid, chloride, nitrogen balance, and plasma proteins. Many other reports have since been published on the comparative effects of salicylates and ACTH or cortisone in experimental animals and man. These results may be reviewed according as the changes induced by these two groups of drugs are (a) similar, (b) dissimilar, (c) conflicting.