The Influence of Steroid Hormones on the Energy Metabolism of the Adrenal Cortex in Vitro

Abstract

The action of different steroid hormones on the oxygen consumption of adrenal cortex slices in vitro was investigated.Deoxycorticosterone (DOC), testosterone and dehydroisoandrosterone, and 17-hydroxycorticosterone, were found to stimulate the oxygen uptake rate, while cortisone, progesterone, pregnenolone, androsterone and cholesterol were inactive. Pretreatment of the slices with DOC, testosterone or ACTH inhibited the action of ACTH or DOC added subsequently. The significance of the direct action of different steroid hormones on the energy metabolism of the adrenal cortex is discussed.The nature of the action of steroid hormones on the adrenal cortex is complex. Many of the actions described are indirect, as for example the atrophy of the adrenal cortex as a result of the inhibition of pituitary adrenocorticotrophic hormone production by steroid hormones. Other effects appear to be due to a direct action on the gland, as for example the partial maintenance of the adrenal cortex of hypophysectomized rats by testosterone described by Cutuly, Cutuly & McCullagh [1938], Leonard [1944] and Zizine, Simpson & Evans [1950]. Ferstl, Heppich & Schmid [1951] and Saffran, Bayliss & Webb [1951] have described the stimulation of the oxygen uptake rate of surviving adrenal cortex tissue by deoxycorticosterone added to the incubation medium.The results of an investigation of the action of different steroid hormones on the energy metabolism of surviving adrenal cortex tissue are presented in this report. METHODSMeasurement of oxygen uptake. The Warburg technique for oxygen uptake measurement was used throughout. The substances under test were added from the sidearm after a preliminary incubation period of 1 hr, when a basal uptake rate was established. Readings were then continued for a further hour after addition of the test substance when the new rate was established. Changes were expressed as a per¬ centage of the initial control rate.Preparation of tissue. Cattle adrenals were collected from the abattoir within 15 min of the death of the animal, wrapped in cellophane and transported to the laboratory over ice. Slices of the cortex tissue were cut by hand; approximately 120 mg wet weight were used in each Warburg vessel.Solutions. Krebs phosphate Ringer pH 7-4 (3-0 ml. per vessel) was used throughout

Changes in the Excretion Pattern of Neutral 17-Ketosteroids During Oestrogen Administration to Male Subjects

“…Since the response to oestrogen is so different from the changes initiated by ACTH it seems unlikely that the Latter is responsible for the increased DHA output. One may, however, consider the possibility of a direct action on the adrenal cortex by the oestrogen, particularly as certain steroids have been shown to have a direct stimulatory influence on adrenocortical metabohsm [Brummel, Halkerston & Reiss, 1954]. Lieberman & Teich [1953] have suggested that DHA might arise from 5:3ß: 17-diol C21 metabolites derived from intermediates in the biogenesis of the corticosteroids by hydroxylation at C17 prior to conversion of the A5:3/?…”