OXYGEN CONSUMPTION OF SKIN AND HAIR GROWTH AFTER ADRENALECTOMY IN THE WHITE RAT

Abstract

Expts. were conducted to see if the hair growth following adrenalectomy was related to an increase in the O2 consumption of the skin. Detns. were made with Fenn respirometers and in Ringer''s-phosphate soln. at 37.5[degree]C. Skin of underfed and unoperated animals containing inactive hair follicles used about .9 cmm. of O2/mg. of dry tissue/hr. The O2 consumption of skin of rats which had been adrenal-ectomized 46 hrs. previously increases 14%. Sixty-six hrs. after adrenalectomy, and just prior to the beginning of growth in the hair follicle, the O2 consumption of the skin of other rats reached 1.25 cmm. (39% increase)/mg. Increased O2 consumption of the skin results from adrenalectomy in the white rat, and these increased oxidative processes appear to induce hair growth in inactive follicles.