THE EFFECTS OF CORTISONEIN VIVOON THE OXIDATIVE METABOLISM OF THE RAT ADRENAL

Abstract

IT HAS been demonstrated that repeated injection of large doses of cortisone acetate into rats results in, among other effects, atrophy of the adrenal cortex which is restricted practically entirely to the zonae fascicularis and reticularis (Ingle, Higgins and Kendall 1938; Wells and Kendall 1940). Decrease in the number of cells makes only a minor contribution to the reduction in size of the cortex, this being due primarily to a decrease in the size of the cells in the two affected layers which show virtually complete loss of lipid (Winter, Silber and Stoerk 1950). One would not expect loss of lipids, per se, to be reflected in any reduction in the capacity of the adrenals of treated animals to oxidize substances such as the intermediates of the Krebs' cycle since these lipids are presumably not part of the cellular enzymatic apparatus. Of course, the lipids may serve normally as substrates in the intact gland