Eleanor H. Venning

Secretion of aldosterone by the zona glomerulosa of rat adrenal glands incubated in vitro.

Conclusion Rat adrenal glands incubated in vitro release aldosterone at the rate of 0.66 μg/100 mg of tissue per hour. Decapsulated rat adrenal glands secrete only negligible amounts of the hormone. Comparison of aldosterone production between decapsulated rat adrenals and their capsules shows that most of the hormone is secreted by the capsular portion which contains the cells of the zona glomerulosa. These findings are strong evidence that the principal site of aldosterone secretion in the rat adrenal is the zona glomerulosa.

The significance of endocrine assays in threatened and habitual abortion

Abstract 1. 1. The physiology of normal pregnancy is discussed from the point of view of the endocrine factors involved. 2. 2. A study has been made of 35 cases of threatened or habitual abortion, and measurement of the excretion of prolan (chorionic gonadotrophic substance), total estrogens and sodium pregnandiol glucuronidate has been made in twenty-four-hour specimens of urine in these patients for varying lengths of time, in some patients throughout pregnancy. 3. 3. A theory of the underlying endocrine basis for abortion is presented. 4. 4. An attempt is made to evaluate progesterone therapy in such cases on a rational basis.

Adrenocortical function in toxemia of pregnancy

Abstract Adrenocortical function was investigated in 17 cases of normal pregnancy, 43 cases of toxemia of pregnancy, and 6 cases of pregnancy with hypertension. Formaldehydogenic steroids, free and conjugated, were measured, as well as the glucocorticoids and the sodium-retaining factor. There was a significant increase in the free and conjugated formaldehydogenic corticoids in the patients with mild and moderate symptoms. In the severe cases the mean value for the free fraction was lower than that found in the more moderate cases but still above that found in normal pregnancy. The conjugated fraction was, however, lower in the severe cases than in normal pregnancy. The values found in the patients with hypertension were only slightly greater than those observed in normal pregnancy. The sodium-retaining factor was increased in all the cases of toxemia. There was no correlation, however, between severity of symptoms and sodium retaining effect. The glucocorticoids were excreted at a lower level in the toxic patients than in normal pregnancy.

THE METABOLIC EFFECTS OF HUMAN AND MONKEY GROWTH HORMONE IN MAN

Excerpt INTRODUCTION The biochemical nature and diverse physiologic effects of pituitary growth hormone have been reviewed recently by a number of investigators in an international symposium,1by As...

Essential Hypertension and Aldosterone

Serial determinations of the urinary excretion of aldosterone have been made in hypertensive patients. Although the majority of patients with benign essential hypertension excrete amounts of aldosterone within the normal range, the mean excretion of 26 patients was significantly higher than that observed in normotensive individuals. When renal complications were present, the mean excretion was still further increased and in patients with malignant hypertension all the values were above the normal range. The mean excretion of the tetrahydro metabolite of aldosterone was also found to be higher in patients with essential hypertension. These patients have a normal response to adrenocorticotrophic hormone stimulation, urinary and plasma corticosteroids, as well as urinary aldosterone, showing comparable increases. The aldosterone content of adrenal glands obtained post mortem from two patients with malignant hypertension was within the range observed by other investigators in primary aldosteronism.

Production of Aldosterone by Rat Adrenal Glands in vitro.

Conclusion Rat adrenal glands incubated in vitro released a sodium-retaining substance with the properties of aldosterone. Purified growth hormone does not seem to increase secretion of sodium-retaining activity. Two ACTH preparations caused a slight but significant increase of aldosterone production in vitro. Alteration of the Na/K ratio of the incubation media, by lowering the Na and increasing the K concentration, produces a moderate enhancement of aldosterone secretion.

Conversion of steroids by chromaffin tissue I. Studies with a pheochromocytoma

Abstract Slices and homogenates of a pure pheochromocytoma have the capacity to transform C 21 steroid precursors. With suitable precursors the following reactions were obtained with the chromaffin-cell tumour preparations: hydroxylations at carbons 21, 18, 17 and 11; side chain cleavage between C 17 and C 20 ; dehydrogenation at C 3 and shifting of the Δ 5 bond to the Δ 4 position. The tumour failed to effect side chain splitting from cholesterol under different experimental conditions.

Biotransformation of progesterone-4-14C and 11-deoxy-corticosterone-4-14C by rat adrenal glands in vitro

Abstract Incubation of quartered adrenals of rats with progesterone-4-14c revealed the presence of at least 23 radioactive areas on the paper strips. Besides the four well known corticosteroids, namely, corticosterone, aldosterone, 18-hydroxycorticosterone and 18-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone, evidence for the presence of 19-hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone, dehydrocorticosterone and 11-deoxycorticosterone is presented. 19-Hydroxy-11-deoxycorticosterone is formed predominantly in the inner zones of the adrenal. Both progesterone and 11-deoxycorticosterone are metabolized rapidly by this tissue and within 15 minutes half of the labeled precursors were transformed to other compounds.

Urinary excretion of adrenal cortical steroids.

It has become apparent in recent years, through the work of many investigators, that the adrenal cortex has a variety of functions. The substances so far derived from it may be roughly divided into three groups: (1) compounds which act mainly on electrolyte metabolism; ( 2 ) compounds which affect protein and carbohydrate metabolism, and (3) compounds which have properties of the sex hormones. Into the last group fall the estrogens, progesterone, and the androgens. The latter also affect protein metabolism. Metabolites of these various adrenal hormones are excreted in the urine and an attempt has been made to correlate these urinary substances with their possible precursors in the gland or with definite types of adrenal function. In man, two groups of urinary steroids have been associated with adrenal metabolism, namely, the 17-ketosteroids and the glycogenic corticoids. The first group, the 17-ketosteroids, are characterized by the facts that they have a carbonyl group a t C-17 and give a typical color reaction with alkaline dinitrobenzene. They have been associated with the adrenal, because they are found to be increased in cases of adrenal tumor and decreased in cases of hypofunction of the adrenal. In the male, the 17ketosteroids are derived from both the adrenal and the testis, whereas, in the female, they are entirely of adrenal origin. The adrenal precursors of these substances have not yet been identified, but they are considered to be associated with the androgenic function of the adrenal, and to have an anabolic effect on body protein. The glycogenic corticoids differ from the 17-ketosteroids in that they possess the same biological activity as the corticosterones, i.e., they are capable of prolonging the life of adrenalectomized animals and will cause an increase in liver glycogen when administered to fasting adrenalectomized animals. They are readily extractable from urine with chloroform or ethylene dichloride, are strongly reducing substances, and are heat labile. They are associated with that group of adrenal substances which are concerned with carbohydrate metabolism. . The urinary corticoids have been assayed by the method of Venning, Kasmin, and Be1l.l It is a bioassay based upon the ability of these hormones to cause a deposition of glycogen in the livers of adrenalectomized fasted mice. Briefly, the assay is carried out in the following manner: The urinary extract is prepared by acidifying a &hour specimen of urine to pH 1 and extracting it with ethylene dichloride or chloroform. After distilling off the solvent, the residue is taken up in chloroform and the solution is extracted with N/10 alkali and water. The chloroform is evaporated off and the residue obtained is dissolved in a small amount of alcohol and is finally made up into an extract containing 10 per cent alcohol

Malignant hypertension and aldosterone secretion: Influence of reversal and progression of the syndrome in two cases

Abstract Rates of secretion of aldosterone, measured by an isotopic dilution method using 7-H 3 -d-aldosterone, are reported in two patients with malignant hypertension during the period of progression and regression of the malignant phase. Hyperaldosteronism in the malignant phase appears to be a secondary phenomenon, and its maintenance may depend upon the renal lesion of the malignant phase.