Abstract
Pairs of adrenal glands were removed from embryonic chicks at 2-day intervals between 9 and 21 days of incubation. Four corticosteroids (progesterone, corticosterone, cortisol, and cortisone) were separated by column chromatography and their concentrations were determined using the competitive protein-binding assay of Murphy [(1967) J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 27, 973–990]. Further identification of cortisol in embryonic chicks was carried out using thin layer and paper chromatography followed by the double isotope assay. Total corticosteroid/pair adrenal glands rose from 9 ng at 9 days to a peak of 38 ng at 15 days. The concentration declined to 21 ng at 19 days and then rose again at hatching. Over the 12-day period studied corticosterone accounted for one third of the total adrenal corticosteroids measured. At hatching corticosterone and its precursor, progesterone accounted for 71% of the total, indicating establishment of the adult pattern of predominance of corticosterone. This report, along with our previous paper [(1974) Gen. Comp. Endocrinol. 24, 364–372], provides base line normal gland and circulating steroid levels. It emphasizes that several corticosteroids are being synthesized and secreted during embryonic development.
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