SummaryFour patients suffering from virilism due to adrenocortical hyperplasia were treated with cortisone, hydrocortisone acetate, prednisone, or prednisolone for periods ranging from six to eighteen months. Oral cortisone was effective in reducing to normal the 17-ketosteroid excretion in the two younger patients, aged 31 and 16 years, but was ineffective in the two older patients, aged 19 and 20 years.Prednisone and prednisolone were the most active in depressing the 17-ketosteroid levels, prednisone being about five times more potent in this respect than oral cortisone and having from two-thirds to three-quarters of the activity of prednisolone.Hydrocortisone acetate injected intramuscularly weekly or fortnightly was also effective.Growth of excess hair was retarded to some extent; acne disappeared in three patients in whom it was present; and menstruation was established in one patient with secondary amenorrhoea.We are indebted to Ciba Laboratories Ltd. for supplies of prednisone (" ultracorten ").
Eight diurnally active (06:00-23:00 h) subjects were adapted for 2 days to the room conditions where the experiments were performed. Blood sampling for adenosine metabolites and metabolizing enzymes was done hourly during the activity span and every 30 min during sleep. The results showed that adenosine and its catabolites (inosine, hypoxanthine, and uric acid), adenosine synthesizing (S-adenosylhomocysteine hydrolase and 5'-nucleotidase), degrading (adenosine deaminase) and nucleotide-forming (adenosine kinase) enzymes as well as adenine nucleotides (AMP, ADP, and ATP) undergo statistically significant fluctuations (ANOVA) during the 24 h. However, energy charge was invariable. Glucose and lactate chronograms were determined as metabolic indicators. The same data analyzed by the chi-square periodogram and Fourier series indicated ultradian oscillatory periods for all the metabolites and enzymatic activities determined, and 24-h oscillatory components for inosine, hypoxanthine, adenine nucleotides, glucose, and the activities of SAH-hydrolase, 5'-nucleotidase, and adenosine kinase. The single cosinor method showed significant oscillatory components exclusively for lactate. As a whole, these results suggest that adenosine metabolism may play a role as a biological oscillator coordinating and/or modulating the energy homeostasis and physiological status of erythrocytes in vivo and could be an important factor in the distribution of purine rings for the rest of the organism.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.