STUDIES ON THE IN VITRO PRODUCTION OF CORTICOSTEROIDS BY ADRENAL GLANDS FROM NORMOTENSIVE INDIVIDUALS AND HYPERTENSIVE PATIENTS

Abstract

The production of aldosterone and other corticosteroids by adrenal glands surgically removed from 5 normotensive subjects with renal disease of various types, 11 patients with arterial hypertension, and 2 with Cushing's syndrome was investigated in vitro by the incubation chromatographic technique. The rate of steroid formation per unit weight of tissue was markedly lower in severe and malignant hypertension and slightly higher in benign hypertension as compared with the rate in normotensive controls. The amount of steroid released varied widely from one gland to the other and showed marked overlapping between the various groups; these variations were most prominent in benign hypertension, less in the normotensive group, and least evident in severe and malignant hypertension. The response of steroidogenesis to ACTH stimulation in vitro was slightly reduced in severe and malignant hypertension. The mean output of aldosterone by adrenal glands from hypertensives was slightly above the mean value obtained with normotensive control glands. The percentage of aldosterone formation in respect to total steroid production was roughly correlated with the severity of hypertension. In four hyperplastic adrenals obtained from two cases of Cushing's syndrome, the in vitro formation of steroids per unit weight of tissue and the response to ACTH did not differ significantly from that found in glands obtained from the other patients under study. The value of in vitro studies for the assessment of the functional capacity of the adrenal cortex is discussed.