Plasma Deoxycorticosterone Research Articles

Determination of deoxycorticosterone in plasma; Double isotope and immunoassay methods

Double isotope and radioimmunoassay (RIA) methods have been developed which are capable of determining deoxycorticosterone concentrations in human peripheral plasma. The levels found in control subjects were similar by both techniques. Using RIA, the mean level was 5 ng/100 ml plasma, with a range of 1 to 12 ng/100 ml.

Saline Suppression of Plasma Aldosterone in Hypertension

Nine normal subjects and 18 patients with essential hypertension had similar suppression of plasma aldosterone concentration to 5 ng/100 ml or less after intravenous infusion of 2 liters of isotonic saline during four hours of recumbency. Six patients with aldosteronism and adrenal adenomas or glucocorticoid suppressible hyperplasia failed to suppress normally. One hypertensive hypokalemic patient with low plasma renin activity had elevated plasma deoxycorticosterone and failed to suppress his plasma aldosterone concentration below 5 ng/100 ml. Three of four patients with renovascular stenosis and hypertension suppressed normally. The fourth patient with a postinfusion plasma aldosterone concentration of 7 ng/100 ml was found to suppress normally when this value was expressed as percent of the two-hour upright value. This saline infusion, recumbency test is rapid and requires minimal patient preparation.

Saline suppression of plasma aldosterone in hypertension

Nine normal subjects and 18 patients with essential hypertension had similar suppression of plasma aldosterone concentration to 5 ng/100 ml or less after intravenous infusion of 2 liters of isotonic saline during four hours of recumbency. Six patients with aldosteronism and adrenal adenomas or glucocorticoid suppressible hyperplasia failed to suppress normally. One hypertensive hypokalemic patient with low plasma renin activity had elevated plasma deoxycorticosterone and failed to suppress his plasma aldosterone concentration below 5 ng/100 ml. Three of four patients with renovascular stenosis and hypertension suppressed normally. The fourth patient with a postinfusion plasma aldosterone concentration of 7 ng/100 ml was found to suppress normally when this value was expressed as percent of the two-hour upright value. This saline infusion, recumbency test is rapid and requires minimal patient preparation.

Plasma deoxycorticosterone in man.

ABSTRACT Plasma levels of deoxycorticosterone (DOC) were determined using a newly developed competitive-binding assay employing corticosteroid binding globulin. Normal men, women throughout the menstrual cycle, and women on oral contraceptives had DOC levels ranging from less than 5 to 10 ng/100 ml. Levels rose to over 100 ng/100 ml following an ACTH infusion and to over 1000 ng/100 ml following metyrapone. Neither a 10 mEq sodium diet nor an angiotensin II infusion caused a detectable increase in DOC. Seven patients with Cushing's syndrome due to excess pituitary ACTH had DOC levels ranging from less than 5 to 15 ng/100 ml, whereas 6 patients with Cushing's syndrome caused by ectopic ACTH production had levels in the range of 21 to 390 ng/100 ml. One patient with Cushing's syndrome due to an adrenal adenoma had undetectable DOC, whereas 4 of 6 patients with adrenal carcinoma had elevated DOC levels. Plasma DOC was elevated in patients with hypertension caused by either 11β-hydroxylase or 17-hydroxylase d...

Metopirone-induced hypertension in the rat.

Uninephrectomized rats were administered 10 mg of Metopirone (Su-4885; metyrapone), an adrenal 11β-hydroxylase inhibitor, ip either once or twice daily for 6 weeks. All were given 1% sodium chloride as drinking solution. Both Metopirone-treated groups showed a significant elevation in systolic blood pressure. All rats were sacrificed 24 hr after the last injection of Metopirone. Adrenals were collected and corticosteroidogenesis from progesterone, measured in adrenal homogenates, was not impaired by Metopirone treatment. However, in short-term studies when rats were sacrificed either 1 or 4 hr after the final administration of Metopirone, inhibition of 11β-hydroxylation was demonstrable in vitro. The hypertensive groups did show a substantial increase in plasma 11-deoxycorticosterone (DOC) levels, thus indicating some inhibition of 11β- hydroxylase in vivo. Adrenal hypertrophy in those rats treated twice daily with Metopirone further substantiated the effectiveness of the dose of Metopirone employed in th...

Deoxycorticosterone production in adrenal regeneration hypertension: in vitro vs. in vivo comparison.

The production of corticosterone (B), deoxycorticosterone (DOC) and aldosterone by regenerated and intact rat adrenals was studied in vitro and in vivo with both water- and salt-fed animals. Steroid mass was quantitated by gas chromatographic methods. DOC production from regenerated adrenals was well below that of intact glands in vitro with adrenal section or homogenate systems. In marked contrast to this, regenerated adrenals showed significantly increased production of DOC per rat when steroids were measured in adrenal venous blood. Peripheral plasma DOC in rats with adrenal regeneration hypertension was .365 ± .076 μg/100 ml compared to .090 ± .009 μg/100 ml for controls. This 4-fold increase in peripheral DOC level is probably the cause of adrenal regeneration hypertension. The failure to find increased DOC mass formation in vitro was considered to be an artifact of in vitro systems and the reasons discussed for this were: a) possible inordinate dependence of regenerated adrenals on the presence of A...