IN VITRO STEROIBOGENESIS IN THE HUMAN NEONATAL ADRENAL GLAND, INCLUDING OBSERVATIONS ON HUMAN ADULT AND MONKEY ADRENAL GLANDS1

Abstract

THE unusual developmental pattern and large size of the human fetal adrenal gland has caused much speculation as to its function (1). The gland is proportionately by weight 10 to 20 times larger than the adult gland, and its large size is attributable to a histologically distinct portion, the fetal adrenal zone, which makes up about 80% of the gland at birth. During the first few months of postnatal life, this zone abruptly involutes, with vascular dilatation, hemorrhage, necrosis, removal of cellular debris, and collapse of the supporting fibrous stroma. The total zone is histochemically similar in some ways to the adult cortex and is presumably steroidogenic, although its function is unknown. The present study was designed to demonstrate whether or not the fetal gland as a whole was capable of in vitro steroidogenesis. Incubation techniques were employed to compare the human neonatal adrenal with adult human and monkey adrenals. Steroids were readily demonstrated by a variety of tests in extracts of incubation media from both human adult and monkey glands, and 17- hydroxycorticosterone (Kendall's compound F) was found in extracts derived from each type of gland.