BIOLOGICAL ASSAY OF ADRENAL CORTICAL ACTIVITY

Abstract

The potency of adrenal cortical extracts may be detd. with a relatively high degree of accuracy from the increment in wt. during therapy of the adrenalectomized rodent (rat or mouse). The technique of adrenalectomy and the procedure for performing the assay are described. The method depends upon the demonstrated fact that within a wide range of dosage, the gain in wt. is a linear function of the logarithm of dose. The effect of the unknown is compared with that of 2 doses of an arbitrarily adopted standard or of desoxycorticosterone which may serve for this purpose.