THE EFFECT OF CORTISONE ON THE COLLAGEN AND HEXOSAMINE CONTENT OF THE SKIN AND FEMURS OF ONE YEAR OLD RATS

Abstract

OSTEOPOROSIS and striae formation of the skin of patients with Cushing’s syndrome is generally thought to be related to an overproduction of the adrenal cortical gluconeogenic hormones (Albright and Reifenstein, 1948). This would result in a net loss of protein from the bones and skin. Since collagen is the predominant protein of these organs it is implied that a loss of this protein is involved in the pathogenesis of these lesions. These considerations seem to be in conflict with the recent observations that collagen is relatively inert metabolically (Neuberger, Perrone and Slack, 1951; Robertson, 1952). The collagen and hexosamine contents of the skins (Sobel, Zutrauen, and Marmorston, 1953) and femurs (Sobel and Marmorston, to be reported) of young growing rats have been investigated. The quantity of collagen deposited in these organs is a function of the maximum weight attained by the animal and does not appear to be influenced by a variety of experimental situations.