Abstract
In an attempt to elucidate the mechanism whereby adrenal cortical hormones (ACH) increase the rate of lymphocyte dissolution within lymphoid organs (White and Dougherty, 1946), studies were undertaken to investigate the effect of ACH upon isolated lymphoid organs, perfused with whole blood. For the first studies, the effect of adrenal cortical extract (ACE) upon the isolated spleen was undertaken on the basis that if ACE acted directly upon lymphoid tissue to accelerate lymphocytic dissolution, this would be evidenced by a significant decrease in the number of circulating lymphocytes in the perfusion blood and by histological evidence of lymphocyte dissolution in the perfused spleen. When the first experiments were performed, contrary to expectations, it was observed that addition of ACE to the perfused spleen system, induced a prompt significant rise in the number of circulating lymphocytes, without affecting the number of circulating erythrocytes or polymorphonuclear leucocytes. This unexpected response...
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