Endocrine Control of the Adrenal in Chickens

Abstract

The sulfuric acid-induced fluorescence of corticosterone in the adrenal venous plasma of immature White Leghorn cockerels was studied following hypophysectomy, autotransplantation of the pituitary to the kidney, and following accidental or deliberate damage to the median eminence. That the fluorescence technique measures corticosterone in chicken plasma is supported by observations that the concentration of fluorescing material in the adrenal venous plasma of the chicken (a) was twice that found in the peripheral plasma, (b) increased following injection of ACTH or crude chicken anterior pituitary powder, (c) decreased after hypophysectomy, and (d) had the greatest intensity in that area of a thin-layer chroma togram which had the mobility of standard corticosterone. Significant decreases were observed in adrenal weights and in the corticosterone concentration in the adrenal venous plasma of hypophysectomized birds, and birds bearing pituitary autografts, when compared to sham-operated controls. These data indicate that the chicken adrenal is dependent upon a trophic substance for its regulation. In spite of near-normal histological appearance, the transplanted pituitary cannot secrete ACTH when removed from the sella turcica. After pituitary removal, the fluorescent material found in the adrenal venous plasma of the chicken remains high. These data indicate either that a nonspecific substance in the adrenal venous plasma of the chicken contributes this fluorescence or that the chicken adrenal is capable of producing corticosterone after the adenohypophysis is removed. The latter possibility is supported by the finding that damage to the median eminence significantly decreased the concentration of this fluorescent material when compared to the concentration observed in the plasma of hypophysectomized birds. (Endocrinology75: 192, 1964)