THE PRESENCE AND CHEMICAL DETERMINATION OF ADRENO-CORTICAL (‘AC’) COMPOUNDS IN THE BLOOD1

Abstract

Mammalian blood contains hormonal substances which are composed of adrenalin bound with sterols, probably for the most part cortical in origin, such as desoxycorticosterone, corticosterone, etc. (not cholesterol). These adreno-cortical ("AC") compounds apparently form the bulk of suprarenal internal secretion and can be extracted from the blood with hot alc. Analogous compounds can be synthesized in vitro in a slightly alkaline medium. They are disintegrated by acids. The quantitative amt. of AC compounds in the blood can be determined by a modified form of Shaw''s method for the detn. of adrenalin. The results are expressed in color units based upon comparison with the colorimetric effect of one billionths of a g. of pure adrenalin as a unit. In human blood the results per cc. vary between 60 and 222 color units with an avg. of 156 color units. Certain variations of the qualitative composition of the AC compounds are demonstrable. In vitro adrenalin can also be bound to various gonadal sterols.