STUDIES OF ADRENAL NUCLEIC ACIDS: THE INFLUENCE OF ACTH, UNILATERAL ADRENALECTOMY AND GROWTH HORMONE UPON ADRENAL RNA AND DNA IN THE DOG1

Abstract

Ribonueleic acid (RNA) was shown to be increased in. the canine adrenal cortex after in vivo ACTH administration; the greatest RNA increase was in the microsomal fraction. The gain in size and weight of the adrenal gland after ACTH was not accompanied by a significant change in desoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), indicating that cell hypertrophy rather than cell proliferation had taken place. After growth hormone administration or unilateral adrenaleetomy, adrenal gland DNA increased; increase in adrenal RNA was much less than after ACTH. Growth hormone and unilateral adrenaleetomy, then, had a corticotropic influence qualitatively dissimilar to ACTH.