Claude Fortier

Effect of eserine and atropine on ACTH release.

Summary The adrenal ascorbic acid response to the independent and simultaneous administration of eserine and atropine, was studied in the rat. (1) The eserine-induced adrenal ascorbic acid depletion is enhanced by simultaneous administration of atropine. (2) Atropine alone causes a significant fall of the adrenal ascorbic acid concentration. This fall is prevented by hypophysectomy. (3) Our results seem to preclude the possibility of a cholinergic control of ACTH release.

Some Chemical and Morphological Changes Elicited in the Adrenal by Stilbestrol and LAP

Summary The adrenal cholesterol and ascorbic acid levels were studied in relation to the stainable lipids of the gland in rats treated with a lyophilized anterior pituitary preparation (LAP), given alone or in conjunction with a synthetic folliculoid (stilbestrol): 1. In stilbestrol treated rats, an almost total depletion of stainable lipids was observed in conjunction with low cholesterol and ascorbic acid values. 2. LAP caused accumulation of sudanophilic lipids in the adrenal cortex but significantly lowered the cholesterol and ascorbic acid levels. 3. A similar dissociation of sudanophilic material from cholesterol and ascorbic acid, was even more evident when LAP was administered concurrently with stilbestrol. The effect of stilbestrol on sudanophilia was counteracted by LAP. 4. These observations show that the corticotrophic effect of folliculoids cannot be solely ascribed to the liberation of anterior pituitary corticotropin such as is present in LAP.

Effect of atmospheric carbon dioxide on adrenal cortical hyperplasia and associated changes due to stress.

Conclusion Our results disprove the possibility that an alkaline shift of the acid-base balance is the necessary prerequisite for the development of the alarm-reaction, as the response of the organs (adrenals, spleen, thymus and lymph nodes) was of the same order in animals submitted to high and normal carbon dioxide tensions. The adrenal cortical hyperplasia as well as lymphatic tissue involution of the animals exposed, without other change in their environment, to a high carbon dioxide atmospheric tension, imply that this factor is in itself an alarming stimulus, perhaps through its action on the acid-base balance of the blood.25

Influence of Adrenaline and Insulin on Adrenal Cortical Response to ACTH

Summary In order to investigate the mechanism of the previously observed enhancement of the adrenal response to ACTH following the administration of glucose, this response was studied in hypophysectomized animals under conditions of adrenaline hyperglycemia and insulin-induced hypoglycemia. Determinations were made of blood-sugar, plasma ascorbic acid, liver glycogen, adrenal cholesterol and ascorbic acid. 1. The blood sugar changes resulting from adrenaline or insulin administration were not influenced by ACTH. 2. A marked fall in plasma ascorbic acid concentration resulted from the administration of adrenaline and insulin either alone or in association with ACTH. 3. Neither adrenaline nor insulin modified the response to ACTH of liver glycogen and of adrenal cholesterol and ascorbic acid. 4. The effects of alimentary hyperglycemia are therefore attributed to an increase in the total store of carbohydrates or to an excess production of intermediary metabolites, which conditions are not duplicated by adrenaline.