ADRENOCORTICAL FUNCTION IN ANXIOUS HUMAN SUBJECTS: THE DISAPPEARANCE OF HYDROCORTISONE FROM PLASMA AND ITS METABOLIC FATE*

Abstract

IN ANXIOUS human subjects the plasma level of hydrocortisone and the urinary output of a group of its metabolic products, the hydroxycorticoids, are almost twice those of normal controls (1). It is known that the quantity of hydroxycorticoids excreted by normal men represents about a fourth of the hydrocortisone produced by the adrenal cortex (2). The increased levels in the plasma and urine of anxious subjects may be due to an increased rate of hormonal production, or to a decreased rate of its disposal from plasma coupled with a metabolic shift in favor of greater hydroxycorticoid production from hydrocortisone. In order to interpret our findings, both aspects of the metabolism of hydrocortisone were investigated. This report concerns the rate of disposal of the hormone following the administration of a test dose of hydrocortisone and the proportion of that dose excreted as hydroxycorticoids in anxious and normal subjects.