Abstract
Emery and Atwell 1 showed that the administration to normal animals of extracts of whole sheep pituitaries provoked a marked increase in adrenal weight due predominantly if not exclusively to the hypertrophy of the cortex. Independently, we had obtained the same effect in rats from implants of beef anterior pituitary tissue. The present communication reports a striking diminution in this effect when a preceding ablation of the thyroids has been performed.
Fresh beef hypophyses were washed in alcohol before dissection, and to eliminate all chance of infection, both merthiolate (1 :10,000) and hexylresorcinol (1 :13,000) were added to many of the batches immediately after grinding. Of 214 adult male and female rats, some of which were unilaterally adrenalectomized, 41 had been previously hypophysectomized, 69 including many first thyroidectomized received pituitary implants, 67 including thyroidectomized were left untreated, and a group of 37 normals was sacrificed and right and left adrenals weighed separately.
Results. 1. Implants of adequate amounts of finely ground beef hypophyses, whether freshly prepared or stored at 0°C. for several months, induced marked adrenal hypertrophy in every case in which the animal possessed intact thyroids, but had little or no effect on thyroidectomized rats (Tables I and II).∗ 2. Two grams of anterior pituitary implants increased the adrenal weight of rats with intact thyroids to at least double that of the controls, larger or smaller amounts producing proportionate effects. 3. In one case where 60 days had elapsed between the last treatment and autopsy, the adrenal had maintained its increased size, being palpable during the whole period, and weighing at autopsy 80 mg., that of a sibling control being 26.5 mg. 4. The adrenal cortex was chiefly affected by the preparations employed.
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