THE OCCURRENCE OF THE MELANOPHORE HORMONE IN SERUM FROM HUMAN SUBJECTS IN DIFFERENT PATHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS AND ITS RELATION TO CORTICOTROPHIN

Abstract

In the majority of ACTH prepns. produced according to different methods the ascorbic acid depleting factor (A. A. F.) is accompanied by the melanophore expanding factor (M. E. F.), but by special methods, a concn. of one or the other factor can be obtained. Prepns. with high M. E. F. but very low A. A. F. (ACTH boiled in alkali) caused a reduction in the circulating eosinophils and an increased urinary excretion of K and of dehydroisoandro-sterone. A method for the concn. of the melanophore hormone in human serum is descr. and investigations on the occurrence of the melanophore hormone in man are reported. Patients with primary Addison''s disease have a considerably elevated content of the melanophore hormone in the serum, which disappears after prolonged admn. of cortisone. After adrenalectomy in rats the content of the melanophore hormone in the blood is increased 4-fold. An elevated amt. of the melanophore hormone was also demonstrated in sera from patients with Cushing''s syndrome, pregnancy, and (in some) patients under max. stress. The pigmentation in primary Addison''s disease, Cushing''s syndrome, and pregnancy are most probably caused by the increased production of the melanophore hormone. The characteristic pallor of panhypopituitarism is caused by lack of production of the melanophore hormone. Patients with an increased content of corticotropin in the serum or in whom such a condition can be theoretically expected also have an increase of melanophore hormone.