Effect of N-Terminal Portion of Pro-opiomelanocortin on Aldosterone Release by Human Adrenal Adenomain Vitro*

Abstract

An adrenal cortex adenoma, surgically removed from a female patient with primary aldosteronism, was used to examine the effect of ACTH, angiotensin II, γ³-MSH, and the terminal fragment of pro-opiomelanocortin purified from porcine anterior pituitaries on aldosterone release in vitro. Primary cultures of tumor cells were incubated as a monolayer in a 96-well microtitration plate and the aldosterone release was measured in the incubation medium after 2 h of incubation in the presence or absence of different concentrations of the peptides. On a molar basis, the N-terminal portion of pro-opiomelanocortin seemed to have the highest activity of all of the peptides assayed.