Abstract
Summary
The effects on adrenal cortical function of removing the hypothalamus and other neural tissue above the midbrain were determined in 11 dogs in which the pituitary stalk had been sectioned previously and a plastic plate placed over the pituitary. There was a clear-cut response to stress 2 to 10 weeks after stalk section, and 17-hydroxy-corticoid output in the unstressed state 24 hours after adrenal vein cannulation (before brain removal) was low. However, following subsequent brain removal, 17-hydroxycorti-coid output was elevated. All neurohypo-physeal tissue below the plastic plate was atrophic in these dogs. There was no marked adrenocortical atrophy. The results suggest that the stress response in severely stressed dogs is not due entirely to CRF from the hypothalamus, and may be due in part to an ACTH-stimulating humoral agent liberated from traumatized tissues.
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