ADRENOCORTICOSTEROIDS IN PERIPHERAL AND ADRENAL VENOUS BLOOD OF MAN*†

Abstract

A DVANCES in steroid methodology make possible a direct approach to the problem of the nature of the secretion of the human adrenal cortex. Two experimental studies in which adrenal venous blood was analyzed (1, 2) indicate that 17-hydroxycorticosterone and corticosterone are components of the steroid mixture elaborated by the human adrenal. These two steroids have also been reported to be present in the peripheral blood of man (1–11). The present communication is an extension of our preliminary report (1) on the subject. METHODS Blood samples were extracted with chloroform, partitioned between 70 per cent ethanol and petroleum ether and chromatographed on silica gel (12). Effluent fractions from chromatography were quantitatively analyzed for corticosterone and 17-hydroxycorticosterone by the phenylhydrazine (13) and fluorescence techniques (14). Chemical identification studies were conducted on the combined effluents obtained from the corticosterone and 17-hydroxycorticosterone regions. Subjects treated with ACTH received either a single dose of 15 units intravenously or 40 units by infusion over four hours. Peripheral blood was obtained from an antecubital vein. Adrenal venous blood was obtained by cannulation of an adrenal vein immediately prior to adrenalectomy.