The Treatment of Chronic Ulcerative Colitis with Pituitary Adrenocorticotrophic Hormone (ACTH)

Abstract

THE use of adrenocortical steroids and the adrenocortical-stimulating hormone of the pituitary gland constitutes a distinctly new approach to the treatment of a number of diseases. It is obvious that the possibilities of this form of therapy as applied in chronic ulcerative colitis should be further explored, as only a few cases of this disease treated with ACTH have been reported.^{1 , 2} The rationale of adrenocortical stimulation as a therapeutic measure in the treatment of chronic ulcerative colitis may be divided into a group of clinical observations and the theoretical concepts that favor the indication that ACTH would be beneficially effective . . .